Pan fried haddock with lentils

Lentils are a great match for white fish and one of my favourite ways to eat them is starting with soffrito to build in flavour and serving it with some sort of punchy condiment, some favourites of mine being aioli or salsa verde. Sweetcorn is bang in season at the moment and by including them in the lentils you get little bursts of sweetness that compliment the salty fish very well. I served mine with some aioli with some smoked sweet paprika stirred through for a more smoky finish.

| Serves 2 |

INGREDIENTS

2 celery stalks, finely diced

1 onion, finely diced

1 small carrot, finely diced

100ml white wine

180g green lentils

Sprig thyme 

2 bay leaves

1 corn on the cob, kernels removed

Lemon juice, to taste

X2 haddock fillets or any other white flakey fish

METHOD

Heat enough olive oil to cover a frying pan over a low heat and add the celery, onion and carrot with a pinch of salt. Cook down for 25-30 minutes until soft and translucent. 

Add the lentils and the wine and turn up the heat to high until most of the wine has reduced. Strip the leaves of the thyme with your fingers and throw in the stalks as well as the bay leaves. Pour enough water in the pan to only just cover the lentils with another pinch of salt, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the corn kernels and simmer for a final 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and thyme stalks, then taste for seasoning. Alternate between salt and lemon juice, continuously tasting until you strike a nice balance.

Before cooking, pat dry the haddock fillets and season with sea salt. Heat a non-stick frying pan with enough olive oil to cover the base over a medium-high heat. Cook the fillets for around 2-3 minutes depending on the thickness, a good rule of thumb is that the haddock should look opaque nearly halfway up the side. Flip the fish over and cook for 30 seconds, add a squeeze of lemon juice then turn off the heat, allowing the residual heat to finish cooking the fish for a minute or two.

Rest the fish for a couple of minutes, then serve atop of the lentils with a spoonful of paprika aioli and some garlicky green beans on the side.