Chef Angela Hartnett has shared a simple yet transformative sauce that can elevate any basic fish dish into a restaurant-quality meal. In a recent episode of the Dish from Waitrose podcast, the acclaimed UK chef demonstrated how home cooks can achieve impressive results with minimal effort.
The Secret to Perfect Fish
Fish is a versatile ingredient, ideal for quick midweek dinners or as the centerpiece of an elegant meal. According to Hartnett, the key to making it exceptional lies not in complex preparations but in a simple sauce: brown butter, also known as beurre noisette.
In the podcast, Hartnett prepared a dish for actress Rosamund Pike, choosing rainbow trout as the main ingredient. The chef paired the fish with beetroot, which she seasoned with red wine vinegar, sugar, and thyme leaves to enhance its flavor. This gentle pickling adds a tangy brightness that complements the fish perfectly.
How to Make Brown Butter Sauce
The sauce is remarkably easy to prepare. Simply heat butter in a saucepan until it foams and the white solids turn golden brown, releasing a nutty aroma. Add a splash of lemon juice and some zest to finish. This sauce brings out the natural flavors of the fish without overpowering it.
Hartnett's recipe involves roasting beetroot and shallots, then placing the trout on top with lemon slices. After roasting, the brown butter is drizzled over the fish, along with fresh dill and pomegranate seeds for a burst of color and flavor.
Reception and Popularity
The video of Hartnett's recipe has garnered over 70,200 views on TikTok, with 4,818 likes and numerous positive comments. One viewer remarked, "This looks so fresh. I never do fish but this almost looks like a one pan job. Stunning." Another praised it as "simply lovely."
Recipe: Roast Trout with Brown Butter
Here is how you can recreate Angela Hartnett's dish at home.
Ingredients
- One bunch beetroot (around 700g), scrubbed and cut into wedges
- Three tbsp olive oil
- Six shallots, peeled and halved
- 250g pack two Scottish loch trout fillets
- One unwaxed lemon, zest of all, juice of ½, ½ sliced
- 60g unsalted butter
- ½ x 20g pack dill, roughly chopped
- Five tbsp pomegranate seeds
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Spread the beetroot over a large roasting tin, drizzle over two tbsp oil and toss to coat. Season with salt, then roast for 20 minutes.
- Turn the beetroot and add the shallots with a pinch of salt, turning to coat in the oil; roast for 10 minutes more. Meanwhile, pat the fish dry. Rub the fillets all over with the remaining one tbsp oil, then season on both sides.
- Take the tin out of the oven and turn it up to 220ºC, gas mark 7. Turn the veg and group together to form a base for the fish.
- Cover the veg with the lemon slices, then top with the trout skin-side up. Roast for eight minutes, until the fish skin is golden and the flesh is cooked, opaque and flakes easily.
- As the fish cooks, melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. Increase the heat, then bubble for a couple of minutes, until the white solids in the butter turn golden brown and it smells nutty. Add the lemon zest and juice, then remove from the heat.
- Once the fish is cooked, drizzle the butter mixture all over, then scatter with the dill and pomegranate seeds. Serve with steamed new potatoes and green beans, if liked.
This simple recipe proves that with a few quality ingredients and a clever technique, anyone can create a memorable fish dish that impresses guests and family alike.
