Baked Anchovy-Stuffed Plaice Fillets
This was a very quickly thrown together meal a couple of weekends ago, just before payday, which cost very little yet tasted amazing. The picture doesn’t do it justice, and displays my serious lack of finesse at putting together a plate of pretty food, however I felt I should share this delectable dish.
Plaice is one of those delicate tasting white fish that can be served with a simple drizzle of lemon to become quite lovely, but with the odd uplifting flavour addition can be quite wonderful.
I prepared a stuffing to fill and roll the plaice fillets which was made up of 3 slices of white crusty bread – zapped in the food processor, a heaped tablespoon of chopped parsley, a tin of anchovies chopped up finely, 4 spring onions, 1 red chilli, salt and pepper, a teaspoon full of paprika and the juice and zest of 1 lemon. I mixed this together well then laid out each fillet and spread the filling over generously then rolled.
This was then baked in the oven for just over fifteen minutes. The result really was splendid (even if I say so myself), the salty flavoursome anchovies really brought the plaice to life and the gentle spicing and smoky paprika made for a really tasty fish dish. The crumb was nicely crisped on the outside which made for a good texture too.
I served this dish with New Potatoes, wilted, buttered spinach and some parsnip puree. These gentle vegetable flavours only enhanced the flavoursome fish dish.
