Monkfish With Saffron Sauce

By Sophie Dahl

Clever old saffron: all it takes is a few threads to stain a sauce (and your fingers) a burnished yellow. This dish reminds me of old-fashioned French restaurants.

Photography by Jan Baldwin
  • Serves: 2
  • Preparation time: 5
  • Cooking time: 13

Ingredients

  • 2 tbps of olive oil
  • 2 spring onions/scallions, white part only, chopped
  • 750g monkfish fillets
  • 125ml white wine
  • 1 tbps of lemon juice
  • 2 tbps of double/heavy cream
  • 5 threads of saffron
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 small bunch of parsley, chopped

Method

  1. In a big sauté pan, heat the olive oil and add the spring onions/scallions, sweating them for a minute or two. Add the fish, cooking for three or so minutes on each side. Pour in the wine and lemon juice and cook for another 10 minutes, covered.
  2. Stir in the cream and saffron threads and cook for a couple of minutes, or until slightly thickened. Season everything. Transfer onto plates and serve garnished with a bit of parsley, with some quinoa or lovely al dente broccoli.