Fish Piccata With Crispy Smashed Potatoes (15 Minute Meal)

It's amazing what you can make in 15 minutes (from scratch) if you get a bit creative! Make this with fresh fish or good quality frozen fish. I made these with beans but I often make it with asparagus and broccolini. You can really use any vegetables you want as long as they cook quickly in a pan with just a bit of braising liquid.

Recipe by Nagi | RecipeTin Eats on October 27, 2014

Prep time: PT5M

Cook time: PT10M

Total time: PT15M

Rating

5 stars (13 reviews)

Ingredients

2 pieces firm white fish fillets ((around 150 - 200g / 5 - 7 oz each) (with or without skin, your choice) (see notes))
6 baby / chat / new potatoes ((about the size of a golf ball) (see notes))
7 oz / 200 g green beans (, trimmed)
1 tbsp fresh parsley (, finely chopped)
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp salt
Black pepper
1/3 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
1 - 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice ((adjust to your taste))
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp baby capers ((canned))
Salt and pepper

Steps

Cook the potatoes in the microwave for 2 minutes, turn potatoes, then cook for another 1 1/2 - 2 minutes. You will be able to tell by squeezing them if they are ready. Don't worry if the skin bursts, you are smashing them anyway.
Use the side of a knife, meat mallet or your hand (covered with a dish cloth) and smash each potato so they are flattened to around 1.5cm/ 0.5" thick with a flattish surface. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
Meanwhile, combine flour, salt and pepper on a plate and dredge each side of the fish in the flour mixture. Shake off excess flour.
Heat olive oil in a non stick pan over high heat. Place fish and potatoes in the pan. Press the potatoes down lightly with a spatula to help it crisp up.
Cook the first side of both the fish and potatoes for around 2 minutes until golden brown, then turn. Make sure the potato is crispy and brown.
Cook the other side of the fish for 1 1/2 minutes (also see notes for fish cooking time). Then remove from the pan onto a plate and cover loosely with foil.
Give the potatoes another 30 seconds to 1 minute to make it nice and brown and crispy, then remove from the pan.
Turn heat down to medium high.
Add wine and water to the pan. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and mix it in. When the liquid comes to a rapid simmer, add the beans.
Shake the pan occasionally to help the beans cook evenly. Cook the beans in the liquid for around 1 1/2 minutes until "tender crisp" (i.e. cooked but still crisp) and remove from pan. If the liquid reduces too much while cooking the beans (which might be the case if you are using a very large heavy based pan), just add a splash of water.
Remove pan from heat. By the time you remove the beans, there should just be a bit of sauce left at the bottom of the fry pan, not even covering the entire base of the fry pan.
Add lemon juice then stir through butter and capers. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.
To Serve
- Place half the beans on each plate and place 3 potatoes on top. Top with a piece of fish. Spoon over the Sauce onto each fish and scatter with parsley. Serve immediately.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 438 g
Calories: 487 kcal
Carbohydrates: 32.5 g
Protein: 18.2 g
Fat: 30.2 g
Saturated Fat: 7.6 g
Cholesterol: 23 mg
Sodium: 1248 mg
Sugar: 1.9 g

Reviews

heidi richardson on 2024-12-04 (5 stars):
Made this tonight with asparagus instead of beans. Absolutely delicious, as I knew it would be.
Ron on 2023-12-08 (5 stars):
Hey Nagi,,,, This was awesome...I didn't have to pay $75 US for it either.... A definite do-over... Thank you, :)
Heather Huppert on 2023-07-02 (5 stars):
OMG! This was so good! I don't have a microwave so I boiled the potatoes for 15 minute and I blanched the green beans with the potatoes for the last 5 minutes. I didn't have white wine so I substituted Mirin. This dish was like something I'd get in a restaurant. Thank you Nagi!
MAKIKO on 2020-10-13 (5 stars):
Hi Nagi, I made this last night using cod . It was very easy and tasty. I’m not really keen on capers, so I’m glad the sauce didn’t taste too much caper. Will definitely make this recipe again. Thank you for another fantastic recipe!
Loonchick on 2020-03-23 (5 stars):
Outstanding! Made this with asparagus and sole. Restaurant quality meal. We may be under self quarantine but we will enjoy our family and great food. Thanks for your recipes!
Tricia on 2018-04-13 (5 stars):
This was delicious, yet another of your recipes on my definately to be repeated list.
Barb on 2018-02-23 (5 stars):
Now this was a really good base for the fish and one you can use your imagination. The smashed potatoes were really, really good and doh, how popular will they become for other dishes. Instead of beans, I used baby asparagus and with the sauce I added red onion and tomato (fridge orphans). Together with the wine & lemony sauce, these worked a treat. I adore capers and welcome any recipe I get the opportunity to use them. This was a really wholesome and delish meal, thanks Nagi. ATM Woolies have basa fillets for $7/kg, can't go wrong at that price; tomorrow is fish tacos. MOTH as I mentioned previously is doing a local gym 12wk transformation (not M Bridges); the nutritional facts are keyed in after each meal.