Pan-fried turbot with buttered leeks and Vesterhavsost – an easy yet luxurious starter.
This dish is everything I love about good food – simple, rich and elegant all at once.
Pan-fried turbot with a cheese sauce. Here it is served on a bed of buttered leeks, with a soft, rounded white wine sauce made with Vesterhavsost (a Danish aged hard cheese), butter-fried asparagus, and finished with fresh peas and microgreens – a combination of flavours that is both classic and uncomplicated.
Served as a starter or a light lunch, the portions are small and dainty – but if you would like to make it a main course, you can easily increase the quantities a little and add extra vegetables or small new potatoes. The dish is easy to prepare ahead and needs very little attention just before serving – perfect if you want to get everything ready in good time and still serve something that impresses.
A truly lovely dish for New Year’s Eve, as a starter for guests, or for a lunch with a little extra love on the plate. And it all tastes even better when peas are in season.
Pan-fried turbot with buttered leeks, white wine and Vesterhavsost
Ingredients
Sauce
- 150 ml white wine
- 1 shallot, peeled and halved
- 200 ml water
- 1/2 chicken stock cube
- 200 ml cream whipping cream (38% fat) or double cream
- 80 g Fyrtårnsost or mature Vesterhavsost, finely grated Danish aged hard cheeses; a mature Gouda-style cheese is the closest substitute
- Salt
Fish
- 4 turbot fillets, approx. 80 g each
- 25 g butter
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Fried leeks and asparagus
- 25 g butter
- 2 leeks, sliced
- 8 green asparagus spears
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
To serve
- Freshly podded peas – if in season
- Pea shoots or other microgreens
- Herb oil – click here for the recipe
Method
- Pour the white wine into a small saucepan and add the shallot halves. Let it reduce by half, then remove the shallot.
- Add the water, stock cube and cream and bring to the boil.
- Turn down to medium heat and stir the cheese into the sauce until it melts – season with salt, then keep it over a low heat while you prepare the rest.
- Just before serving, it is worth giving the sauce a quick blitz with a stick blender to make it light and frothy. It is not essential, though.
Fish
- Season the turbot with salt and freshly ground pepper on both sides.If the pieces are thin, you can make a shallow cut in the fish and fold the piece over so it becomes thicker.
- Melt the butter with the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the fish for a couple of minutes on each side until golden – depending on the thickness. Set the fish aside on a plate.
Fried leeks and asparagus
- Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the leeks over medium heat for a couple of minutes.
- Snap the green asparagus where the spears break naturally, add them to the pan with the leeks and give them 1-2 minutes.
- Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and turn off the heat.
To plate
- If you like, froth the sauce with a stick blender before serving, and make sure it is piping hot.
- Pour the sauce into the bottom of 4 shallow bowls and drizzle with a little herb oil, if using.
- Divide the leeks between the bowls and lay the fish on top.
- Top with the fried asparagus, freshly podded peas and a little greenery – and season with freshly ground pepper before serving.
Nutrition
Premium
Jeg lavede retten til nytår og den var så lækker. Nu vil jeg gerne lave den til et større selskab. Har du erfaringer med at stege fisken på forhånd og varme den / holde den varm i ovnen ved lav temperatur? Jeg brugte mørk sej filet ig det smagte godt
Hej Christina
Det er jeg simpelthen så glad for at høre – tusind tak 🙂
Nej har desværre ikke prøvet at lave fisken på forhånd og holdt den varm. Måske du kunne bage fisken i stedet for, kort inde servering – så den ikke bliver tør? 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Tak for en virkelig god opskrift. Jeg lavede den nytårsaften, dog med torsk i stedet. Det smagte virkelig fantastisk og gæsterne var vilde med det.
Hej Gabriella
Hvor gør det mig bare mega false at høre – tusind tak fordi du giver dig tid til at skrive 🙂
Rigtig godt nytår:)
Warm wishes, Dianna
Hejsa
Tak for en dejlig opskrift.
Jeg skal lave den til forret i morgen og vil blot høre om jeg kan lave saucen i dag.
På forhånd tak
Hejsa
Beklager mit sene svar – har været på ferie.
Saucen kan sagtens laves dagen i forvejen:)
Dbh Dianna
Hej
Kan man lave det dagen før nytårsaften
Hejsa
Jeg vil kun anbefale at lave saucen dagen før:)
Warm wishes, Dianna
Hej
Kan jeg lave saucen dagen før den skal spises
Hej Frank
Du kan sagtens lave saucen dagen i forvejen:)
Warm wishes, Dianna
Hvilke grønsager vil man kunne tilføje mere udover kartofler, hvis retten skal serveres til nytår?
Hej Sofie
Beklager mit sene svar, men er på ferie:)
Udover kartofler, som er oplagt, vil asparges eller broccolini også fungere perfekt til:)
Warm wishes, Dianna
Kunne jeg måske bruge reven parmesan istedet for vesterhavnsosten?
Retten ser så lækker ud. Vil skifte pighvar ud med hellerfisk eller torskeloins, da de forefindes i fryseren.
Du har mange gode retter
Hej Anette
Hvor gør det mig bare mega glad at høre – tusind tak fordi du giver dig tid til at skrive 🙂
Det kan du sagtens ja, og god ide med anden fisk også:)
Rigtig godt nytår:)
Warm wishes, Dianna