Whole flounder with ratatouille

A whole fish, cooked and served as is, is very normal in France. I love eating fish whole, as you don’t waste anything — the skin is delicious. Flounder is a great fish — an abundant, sustainable species, they require no preparation (no scaling or gutting) and one fish is the perfect portion-size per person.

Ingredients

1	Lemon
4	Whole flounders, medium size (Main)
1 Tbsp	Thyme leaves, chopped

Ratatouille

2 cloves	Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp	Oil
½	Baby onions, finely chopped
½	Eggplants, or one small eggplant, cut into small dice
1 punnet	Cherry tomatoes
1	Red capsicum, cut into small dice
2	Courgettes, cut into small dice
2 tsp	White wine vinegar, (or other similar)
1 handful	Basil leaves, torn

Directions

1. Heat oven to 200C.
2. Place each flounder on a large rectangle of tinfoil. Squeeze over lemon juice, drizzle with a little olive oil or dot with butter, and sprinkle over a pinch of thyme leaves.
3. Fold tinfoil up to completely cover the fish and form tight packages. Bake for 15 minutes until fish is just cooked.
4. To make the ratatouille, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and saute garlic and onion until soft.
5. Add eggplant and remaining olive oil and continue to cook a further 5 minutes until eggplant is coated in olive oil and cooked through.
6. Add tomatoes, capsicum, courgettes, vinegar, the remaining thyme and a splash of water. Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss with basil leaves and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
8. Serve one whole fish per plate/person, topped with the ratatouille.