Recipe:Le Caprice’s pan-fried John Dory with lentils, chorizo and kurly kale.

How to Make Chorizo Lentil Stew with a Pressure Cooker & George Duran - Recipe Tutorial

Let's enjoy cooking !!

John Dory is not the kind of fish that you will generally find at the supermarket, but since I’m a great fan of the local fishmonger, this is no bad thing. Its meaty flesh is deliciously succulent and, I think, works really well with the spicy chorizo. The earthiness of the curly kale and puy lentils creates a good balance for this autumnal dish.

Serves 4

sunflower oil enough for frying
John Dory fillets 4 x 180g (with the skin left on)
salt and freshly ground pepper

cooking chorizo 200g, cut into ½ cm dice
curly kale 200g
flat leaf parsley ½ bunch, leaves and stalks, finely chopped
lemon juice of ½

For the lentils

extra virgin olive oil 40ml
onion 1, finely diced
garlic 2 cloves
thyme 2 sprigs
rosemary 2 sprigs, leaves removed and chopped
puy lentils 250g (if you have time, it’s good to soak them for an hour beforehand)
chicken or vegetable stock 1 litre (a good quality cube will do)
unsalted butter 30g

Method:

To cook the lentils, pour olive oil into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and gently cook. Add the onion, garlic, thyme and rosemary and cook for 3 minutes. Add the lentils, stir well and then the stock. Bring to boil and simmer until the lentils are soft to taste, but not mushy. This should take around 20 minutes. The consistency should be like sauce. When ready, stir in the butter until it’s all melted.

Heat a non-stick frying pan and add the sunflower oil.

Season the John Dory fillets and gently cook, skin-side down for 4 minutes. Turnover and cook for a further 3 minutes.

At the same time as you cook the fish, heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan and add the chorizo for a few minutes (the natural oils will come out). Then add the kale and, when wilted, add the cooked lentils and check the seasoning.

To serve, spoon the lentils onto warm plates, place the John Dory fillets on top and finish with chopped parsley and lemon.