Roast Fillet of Plaice with Roasted Tomato & Basil Dressing & Green Olive Tapenade
Serves 4
   Olive oil
   2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
   1 small onion, finely chopped
   4 sprigs of fresh basil, stalks chopped and leaves reserved for the dressing
   100ml white wine
   1 x 400g can Italian chopped tomatoes
   200m1 fish stock
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
   Pinch of sugar (optional)
   4 plaice fillets, skin on
   16 cherry tomatoes, halved
   1 garlic clove
   Juice of 1/2 lemon
For the olive tapenade:
   Pinch crushed dried chilli
   4 tablespoons green olives, stoned
   Juice of 1 lemon
   4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Heat a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the garlic and onion and gently sweat for 5 minutes, without letting the onion colour. Add the basil stalks and cook for a further minute. Add the white wine and simmer to allow the alcohol to evaporate and the wine to reduce by half.
   Add the chopped tomatoes and the fish stock. Turn down the heat and allow the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes. Break the tomatoes down with a wooden spoon. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, black pepper and a little sugar, if necessary.
   Meanwhile, make the tapenade. This olive paste can be completely smooth when made in a food processor, or more textured if cut by hand — whatever your preference. Crush the chilli together with a little salt until smooth. Roughly chop the olives, then chop, pound or blend them until you have your preferred texture. Add the chilli, lemon juice and olive oil. Taste, and check the seasoning. Season the mixture well with freshly ground black pepper (the olives are salty).
   Preheat the oven to 200 deg C. Score the skin side of the plaice with 3 cuts that cut into the flesh. Pat the fish dry with kitchen paper and season it. Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan on a medium-high heat. Place the fish in the pan, skin-side down, and cook it until it is a medium golden brown. Do not move the fish, poke it or shake the pan, to allow it to form a brown crust. Gently turn the fish over and cook on the flesh side for 2 minutes. Transfer the fish to a roasting tin with the halved cherry tomatoes and bake in the oven for 5 minutes.
   While the fish is baking, make the basil dressing. Crush the garlic with a little salt in a pestle and mortar. Roughly chop the reserved basil leaves, add them to the pestle and mortar and quickly pound to make a smooth green paste. Add the lemon juice and 5 tablespoons of olive oil.
   When the fish is cooked, plate it up with the roast cherry tomatoes and serve with the hot tomato sauce, the basil dressing and the tapenade.

From: Fish Tales. By Bart van Olphen & Tom Kime. Published by Kyle Cathie/Simon & Schuster.
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