Filet of Sole San Clemente

This is a dinner party dish that looks like it took hours but comes together in about 40 minutes.

Sole fillets get rolled around a stuffing of sauteed mushrooms, crab meat, cracker crumbs, capers, and dill. Toothpicks hold the rolls together while they poach gently in white wine and water with lemon slices.

The poaching liquid becomes the base for the sauce. Cornstarch dissolved in heavy cream thickens the pan juices, then a tempered egg gets whisked in for a silky, custard-like richness. The sauce goes directly over the fish rolls on the plate.

Poaching is the gentlest way to cook sole. It keeps the delicate fillets from breaking apart and lets the stuffing heat through evenly without the fish drying out.

Chef Tips

• Skewer the rolls with toothpicks to keep them sealed. Sole is thin and the filling can push out during poaching.
• Poach gently, never boil. Bubbling water tears the fragile fillets. Keep it at a bare simmer.
• Temper the egg carefully before adding it to the sauce. A spoonful of hot liquid into the beaten egg first, then back into the pan. Otherwise you get scrambled egg in your sauce.

Variations

• Use shrimp instead of crab for a different but equally luxurious stuffing.
• Swap sole for flounder or tilapia if sole isn’t available. Any thin, mild white fish works.
• Add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard to the cream sauce for a sharper, more complex finish.