Sole, Crab & Artichokes

This is a dinner-party workhorse designed to be assembled ahead, frozen, then pulled out and baked the day of. That freeze-and-bake flexibility is why it’s perfect for entertaining.

The trick is rolling delicate sole fillets around a packed center of crab. The filling gets wrapped in the thin, mild fish so each roll slices cleanly into a pinwheel on the plate.

Mornay sauce is a classic French cheese bechamel, a butter-and-flour roux loosened with hot milk and enriched with grated parmesan and Romano. The blender method here is a modern shortcut that skips the lump risks of traditional whisking.

Sauteed mushrooms and artichoke hearts arranged around the rim of the baking dish do double duty. They soak up the excess Mornay that pools out from under the fish rolls and turn into flavor-loaded sides in their own right.

Chef Tips

• Pat the sole fillets very dry before rolling. Wet fish won’t hold their shape and the sauce will water down in the bake.
• Drain the canned crab thoroughly and pick through for any shell fragments before filling the rolls.
• Use toothpicks to secure the rolls if they want to unravel, just remember to remove before serving.
• Thaw the assembled dish fully in the fridge overnight before baking. Trying to bake from frozen leads to uneven cooking and rubbery fish.

Variations

• Swap sole for flounder or tilapia if sole is not available. Both roll similarly.
• Replace crab with diced cooked shrimp or a crab-shrimp mix for a different flavor profile.
• Add a splash of dry white wine or a spoonful of dry sherry to the Mornay for a more complex sauce.