THIS is fresh sole, baked to perfection and topped with a buttery, citrus, sweet and vinegar caper and lemon butter sauce.

Mat says: “My recipe is borrowed shamelessly from a classic sole meunière recipe which uses Dover sole and parsley in the lemon butter sauce.

“This is another regular dish from the restaurant, and it’s simple and quick to make. The skill is in the timing of the dish and ensuring the temperatures are correct. Follow the recipe carefully to get a perfect sauce and ensure your fish is as fresh as possible as it is served slightly rare to capture the flavours of the fish.

“This can also be used for john dory and plaice; for megrims and Dover sole get your fishmonger to skin the fish before cooking. Ensure all fish used comes from a sustainable source, megrims are a great local South West alternative to Dover sole, which are becoming scarcer.”

The recipe serves two.

Butter sauce

Ingredients:

100g unsalted butter

1 Lemon

tblsp Capers

Method: Heat the butter moderately till it foams, when the foaming stops reduce the heat and add fine zest from the lemon, as soon as the butter colours turn the heat off.

Wait till the butter cools and then add half of the juice of the lemon (no sooner or the butter will burn) and the capers before reheating till the sauce foams again, immediately taking off the heat when it foams.

Serve warmed over the cooked fish.

For the Sole

Ingredients:

1 Sole

Vegetable oil

Plain flour

Seasoning

Method: Gut and rinse your fresh lemon sole Slash the skin in crossed diagonal strips (as per the picture) on both sides.

Drag the sole in a plate of seasoned flour and lay on a oven tray, (hint: use a Teflon sheet to ensure you can get it out of the tray!) Pour about ½ cup of oil over the fish and rub it into the fish on both sides to cover.

Bake in hot oven for 10-15 minutes Probe the middle of the fish and remove from the oven when the centre of the fish reaches 60C, crisp for a few moments under the grill.

Plate and pour a generous portion of the sauce over the plate Serve with some samphire and fresh salad (foraged sea vegetables work great if you have a source for them).

Do you have a signature dish? Send your favourite recipe to Taste, Dorset Echo, Fleet House, Hampshire Rd, DT4 9XD or alternatively you can email ruth.meech@dorsetecho.co.uk