Nigel Slater’s midweek dinner: cod, pea and tarragon

Have ready some steamed or boiled potatoes. You’ll need about 400g for 2. Serves 2. Ready in 15 minutes.

Remove the skin from 2 x 250g pieces of cod or haddock fillet. Lightly season with salt and fine black pepper. Roughly chop 7g of tarragon leaves.

Over a moderate heat, melt 40g of butter in a shallow nonstick pan, then pour in 2 tbsp of olive oil. Lower the fish into the pan and cook for about 4-5 minutes, spooning the foaming butter over almost constantly.

Using a palette knife, carefully turn the fish over. Pour 100ml of white wine or white vermouth into the pan, let it foam briefly, then tip in 75g of peas – fresh, but frozen will do fine – and the chopped tarragon. Continue cooking for a further 5 minutes.

Lift the fish on to 2 warm plates. Don’t worry if it breaks up a little.

Add 4 heaped tbsp of thick double cream or crème fraîche into the pan, stirring with a wooden spoon to bring the sauce together. Squeeze in a little lemon juice, then check the seasoning.

Spoon the sauce over the fish and eat with the plain steamed potatoes or crusty bread – a baguette is perfect – to mop up the sauce.

• •

  As the sauce is so rich, it’s best served with plain steamed or boiled potatoes as an accompaniment. Mash them into the sauce with your fork as you eat.

• •

  A few green beans, lightly cooked, might be welcome here.

• •

  If you are using crème fraîche, check that it is the full-fat variety as the low-fat version tends to separate.

Photograph by Jonathan Lovekin