Serves 4

This is a wonderfully colourful fish dish for the spring and summer months, using light and fresh ingredients that combine perfectly on a plate.

3 tbsp olive oil
4 x 200g sea bass fillets
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
25g butter
350g cooked beetroot, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
3 tbsp capers
4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Squeeze of lemon juice
4 Baby Gem lettuce
40g parmesan shavings

For the potatoes
800g Jersey Royal potatoes, scrubbed not peeled
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
150ml chicken or vegetable stock
125g unsalted butter, chilled
Juice of half a lemon
Handful of mint leaves, finely shredded

1 Cut any larger potatoes in half, then put them all in a steamer basket. Sprinkle with salt and cover with a tightly fitting lid. Place over a pan of boiling water and steam for 10-12 minutes until tender.

2 Pour the stock into a small saucepan and heat until almost boiling. Cut the butter into small cubes. Gradually whisk it into the stock, adding it piece by piece and whisking vigorously, until completely emulsified. Add lemon juice and seasoning to taste, then stir through half of the mint. Tip the potatoes into a warmed serving dish and toss in the mint-butter emulsion to coat. Keep warm.

3 Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a sauté pan until hot. Score the skin of each fish fillet a few times with the tip of a sharp knife and season well. Add the fish to the pan, skin-side down, and cook for 2-3 minutes until the skin turns golden and crisp. Slip the butter down the sides of the pan and, when it starts to foam, flip the fish over. Fry the fish for another 30-60 seconds until just cooked through, basting with the butter. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

4 Heat a griddle pan until almost smoking. Meanwhile, add the beetroot, capers and some salt and pepper to the same sauté pan used for the fish and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.

5 Halve the lettuce lengthways and brush with another tablespoon of oil. Season, then griddle on both sides, until it has taken on some colour and wilted slightly.

6 Place the lettuce in the centre of four warmed plates and spoon over the beetroot and caper mix. Rest the fish on top and arrange the potatoes around the edges. Pour the mint-butter emulsion over the potatoes and fish, then squeeze some lemon juice over everything and scatter with parmesan shavings and mint to serve.

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