Fillet of Sole in the Style "Riche"
The Café Riche was a famous nineteenth-century Paris restaurant celebrated for its fillets of sole bathed in velvety cream sauces and garnished with lavish ingredients such as lobster and truffles. This fillet of sole recipe, which includes a buttery breadcrumb topping for the baked sole, is a contemporary homage to the old Riche. Here, the fillets are surrounded by a rich mushroom cream sauce and garnished with garlicky prawns.
Ingredients
Serves 6
For the mushroom cream sauce
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 shallots, chopped
2 lemons, sliced
I pound cremini mushrooms,
stems trimmed, sliced
3/4 cup heavy cream
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into bits
For the herbed bread crumbs
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup plain fresh bread crumbs
3 tablespoons chopped mixed herbs (choose 2 or 3 among chervil, parsley, cilantro, and tarragon)
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
For the prawns
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
I garlic clove chopped
24 large prawns or jumbo shrimp
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, minced
Fine sea salt
For the sole
12 sole fillets (3 to 4 ounces each) Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
To prepare the mushroom cream sauce
Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, lemon, and mushrooms and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 5 minutes without stirring. Uncover, add the cream, and stir to incorporate. Raise the heat to high and reduce the mixture, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing on the mushrooms to extract their juice, and return to the saucepan over medium heat. Discard the solids. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Whisk in the butter, a little at a time, until incorporated. Transfer to a bowl, cover with aluminum foil, and keep warm in a low oven.
To prepare the herbed bread crumbs
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bread crumbs and toss to coat with the butter. Remove from the heat, add the herbs, and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
To prepare the prawns
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and prawns and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley, and season with salt. Keep warm in a low oven.
To prepare the sole and serve
Preheat the oven to 475°F. Season the sole with salt and pepper and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Spread each fillet with a layer of the herbed bread crumbs and top each with I teaspoon of butter. Bake in the center of the oven for 6 to 7 minutes, until the fish is flaky. Spoon the cream of mushroom sauce onto six warmed serving plates. Top each serving with 2 sole fillets, garnish with 3 prawns. and serve immediately.