Sea bass fillet fried on the skin with tomato and lamb's lettuce puree

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 fish fillets, sea bass fillets with skin
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• Salt (Fleur de Sel)
• 3 tomatoes (vine tomatoes), skinned, pitted and diced
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 1 pinch(s) of sugar
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove(s), finely chopped
• 1 sprig(s) rosemary
• 50 ml fish stock
• salt and pepper
• 80 g lamb’s lettuce
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 shallot(s), finely diced
• 50 ml fish stock
• 50 ml wine, white, dry
• 4 tbsp cream
• 2 cl vermouth (Noilly Prat)
• 1 tbsp capers
• Salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

For the tomato puree, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan and briefly sauté a pinch of sugar. Add the garlic and diced tomatoes, stir well, and season with salt and pepper. Add the rosemary sprig to the pan and deglaze with the fish stock. Reduce by about half. Then fish out the rosemary sprig and puree the mixture with a handheld blender. Place the cherry tomatoes in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and simmer gently with the lid on for about 15 minutes. For the salad puree, wash the lamb’s lettuce (set aside 4 lettuce sprigs for decoration), blanch in boiling water for about 30 seconds, refresh in ice-cold water, drain well, and then dry thoroughly on kitchen paper. Melt the butter in a saucepan and sauté the diced shallots until translucent, deglaze with the white wine and fish stock, and reduce by half. Add the cream and stir in the salad. Simmer for a little longer and season with Noilly Prat and a pinch of salt. Purée with a hand blender and fold in the drained capers. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan, add the crushed garlic cloves and the rosemary sprigs, and briefly toss them around in the oil. Sear the fish fillets skin-side down, pressing them flat with one or two spatulas as they tend to bulge under the heat. This takes about 20 seconds, then they stay flat. Reduce the heat to half and turn the fillets after about 3 minutes. Finish cooking on a platter. Place the fillets skin-side up on plates and sprinkle with fleur de sel. Serve with both purées, the cherry tomatoes, and a sprig of lamb’s lettuce. Wild rice goes very well with this dish.