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Classic Sole Meunière

4.6

(54)

Four sole fillets topped with butter chopped parsley and lemon wedges on a serving platter.
Photo by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Liberty Fennell

Sole meunière is a classic fish preparation, perhaps best known as the dish that ignited Julia Child’s love affair with French cuisine. Like many of France’s trademark dishes, sole meunière (meaning “in the style of the miller’s wife”) is an exercise in simplicity: Dredge sole fillets in flour (the mill connection), sear them in butter, and finish them with a nutty brown butter pan sauce. But don’t let the pared-down ingredient list and straightforward technique fool you: This buttery, lemony fish dish is certainly a dinner to remember.

While this elegant preparation will work for most types of white fish—like tilapia, cod, or snapper—sole is the most classic choice. Seek out wild Pacific sole for this recipe, rather than Atlantic sole, which is overfished. Thin cuts of sole require only about 3 minutes to cook; if you swap in a thicker fillet of white fish, it might need a slightly longer cook time.

Since the butter flavor is so prominent in this sole meunière recipe, go ahead and dip into that block of European butter you save for special occasions. Remember you’re going for browned not burnt butter—the milk solids in the butter will continue to cook off the heat, and they can turn dark quickly. Follow these brown butter tips and you’ll be just fine. Parsley and fresh lemon juice brighten the quick pan sauce; spooned over the seared sole, it’s a romantic dinner for two. Now all you need is the perfect Parisian dessert.

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