Pan-fried Sole with Cauliflower and Bitter Greens

SERVES 4

This is the kind of dish I like to make while on vacation—I like to cook for my friends and family, but I don’t like to be in the kitchen for a long time. Everyone likes sole, especially when we are away for the weekend at Belle-Île. I add in the puntarella because I appreciate bitterness and I go to the market on the island for the fish or I buy directly from a fisherman.

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For the vegetables:

⅓ cup olive oil

2 cups small cauliflower florets

3 tablespoons butter

¼ cup water

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

¼ puntarella or chicory, leaves separated and sliced in 2-inch pieces

2 cups sliced radicchio leaves (2-inch pieces)

For the fish:

½ pound sole fillets (4 to 8 fillets, depending on size)

3 eggs

1 cup flour

⅓ cup olive oil

½ lemon

Sea salt

To serve:

3 ounces Camembert

Sea salt

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Heat half of the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over high heat. Add in the cauliflower, and sauté for 1 minute. Add the butter and water and sauté for another 2 minutes, stirring often.

Remove the cauliflower. Add the peppercorns to the pan with the rest of the cooking oil and the remaining juices. Cook over medium-high heat with the puntarella and the radicchio for 2 minutes.

To cook the fish, cut it into 2-inch segments. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add the fish and coat with the egg. Pour the flour into a separate mixing bowl. Dredge each piece of fish in the flour.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the fish pieces for 3 minutes, turning once. Squeeze lemon juice over the fish and sprinkle with sea salt.

To serve, reheat the cauliflower and bitter greens in the oven for 3 minutes if necessary. Divide the Camembert among four plates. Place the fish and vegetables over the cheese and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.