Flemish-Style Hake in Green Sauce

📝 Ingredients

• 450 g frozen hake fillets (defrost the day before)
• 900 g waxy potatoes (6 medium, about 150 g each)
• 125 g baby spinach (1 bag)
• 30 g flat-leaf parsley
• 25 g chives (20 for the sauce, 5 for serving)
• 2 shallots (about 30 g each)
• 15 g unsalted butter
• 1 vegetable stock cube + 250 ml hot water
• 100 ml reduced-fat single cream, 15 % fat
• 1 tbsp cornflour (10 g)
• ½ lemon (juice)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan with steamer basket
• Sauté pan with lid
• Stick blender
• Slotted spoon
• Cutting board and knife

📖 Steps

1. The day before, put the hake in the fridge so it defrosts slowly. On the day, pat it dry carefully with kitchen paper, cut it into 4 to 5 cm pieces (like the chunks of eel in the original recipe) and season lightly with salt.
2. Peel the potatoes, halve them and steam for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tip of a knife slides in without resistance. Make the sauce in the meantime.
3. Wash and spin dry the spinach, parsley and chives. Remove the thick parsley stalks, roughly chop the herbs (they'll be blended) and finely snip 5 g of the chives for serving. Peel and finely chop the shallots.
4. Melt the butter in the sauté pan over a medium-low heat and sweat the shallots for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until translucent but not coloured. Pour in the stock (cube dissolved in the hot water) and bring to a gentle simmer.
5. Lower the hake into the barely simmering stock, cover and poach for 5 to 6 minutes over a low heat, basting halfway through, until the flesh is opaque and flakes apart: a rolling boil would break it up. Lift it out with a slotted spoon and keep warm under a plate.
6. Add the spinach, parsley and 20 g of the chives to the stock, then let them wilt for 2 minutes over a medium heat, stirring. Blend with a stick blender directly in the pan until you have a very smooth green sauce.
7. Mix the cornflour into the cold cream, pour into the sauce and bring to a simmer, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes, until it coats the spoon. Off the heat, add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper: added at the last moment, the lemon keeps the lovely green colour.
8. Return the hake to the sauce and warm through for 1 minute over a very low heat, without stirring so it doesn't break up. Serve with the steamed potatoes, spoon over plenty of sauce and sprinkle with the reserved chives.