Cod & Cauliflower Purée

📝 Ingredients

• 440 g skin-on cod loin (2 fillets of about 220 g each)
• ½ large cauliflower (about 500 g florets)
• 100 g fromage frais 3 %
• 250 g fresh green beans
• 20 g flaked almonds
• 20 g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 unwaxed lemon (zest for the purée, 2 tbsp juice for the butter)
• 1 garlic clove + 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 pinch of nutmeg
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Two saucepans
• Non-stick frying pan
• Stick blender
• Colander
• Flat spatula

📖 Steps

1. Take the cod out of the fridge 15 minutes before cooking. Cut the cauliflower into small florets of equal size and top and tail the green beans. Zest the lemon, then squeeze out 2 tbsp juice. Crush the garlic clove with the flat of a knife, without peeling it.
2. Cook the cauliflower for 15 minutes in a pan of salted boiling water, until very tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. In another pan, cook the green beans for 6 to 7 minutes in salted boiling water: they should stay crunchy.
3. Drain the green beans and plunge them into a bowl of ice-cold water for 1 minute to set their colour, then drain. Toast the flaked almonds in the dry frying pan for 2 minutes over a medium heat, stirring, then set aside in a bowl.
4. Drain the cauliflower thoroughly and leave it in the colander for 2 minutes so the steam can escape: a purée that's too wet would be runny. Blend it with the fromage frais, lemon zest and nutmeg until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and cover.
5. Pat the fish dry on all sides with kitchen paper and salt the skin side. Heat the oil in the frying pan over a medium-high heat, then add the fillets skin side down. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes without moving them, until the flesh has turned white two-thirds of the way up.
6. Carefully turn the fillets with a fish slice, lower to a medium heat and add the butter, crushed garlic and thyme. When the butter foams, tilt the pan and spoon it over the fish for 2 to 3 minutes. Off the heat, add the lemon juice.
7. Check it's cooked: the flesh should come apart in pearly flakes when tested with the tip of a knife. Place the fillets on warm plates with the purée, reheated for 1 minute in the microwave if needed.
8. Toss the green beans for 1 minute in the lemon butter left in the pan, over a medium heat, then divide them between the plates next to the fish. Sprinkle with the toasted almonds, season with pepper and serve immediately.