One-pan lemon sole with homegrown basil
Grow your own basil to add flavour to your summer cooking, with tips from our friends at BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine. Packed with flavour, we’ve got the perfect one-pan recipe to use your basil in, from the BBC Good Food Show Summer 2022.
In the warmer months, basil is the perfect addition to your windowsill or vegetable patch, and packs fantastic flavours for summer dishes.
Read on below for tips on growing basil from our friends at BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine and to find out more about a delicious one-pan lemon sole recipe, using your basil, from the BBC Good Food Show Summer in 2022.
Sowing
- Sow basil seed from spring to summer so you have a continuous crop. Sow in containers for a lasting crop
- Grow in well-drained, fertile soil in a warm, sheltered position
- Start seedlings off in pots on a warm, but not sunny windowsill. Pot on into individual pots when plants are big enough to handle.
- Help your basil acclimatise to conditions outdoors by standing them outside in a sheltered spot and bring them back in at night.
Caring for basil
Outdoors, basil needs protection from wind and frost. Always water with care, ideally before midday, and avoid splashing the leaves. Water sparingly – basil hates to sit in wet compost!
Expect to pot up your basil a few times in the growing season as plants grow fast in containers.
Basil is a half-hardy annual, so new plants will be needed each year.
Harvest
Pick the leaves and tops of basil regularly throughout the summer to use fresh. You can be quite ruthless, so long as you leave at least three pairs of side shoots so your plants can regrow. Don’t wash the leaves until you’re ready to use them as they’ll turn slimy.
One-pan lemon sole
This recipe is from the BBC Good Food Show Summer 2022, as seen on the Italian Kitchen from Chris Baber.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 red onions, cut into 1cms slices
- 3 peppers, thinly sliced
- 4 tomatoes, quartered
- 10 pitted black olives
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 small bunch of basil leaves
- 4 lemon sole fillets
- 250ml white wine
- olive oil, to serve
- crusty bread, to serve
- drizzle of extra virgin
Method
Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Heat up the olive oil in a large, non-stick ovenproof frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic for 1 min and add the onions, peppers, tomatoes and olives. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 10-12 mins until the veg begins to soften.
Add the lemon zest, half the basil and wine. Bring to the boil, reduce the hear and simmer for 5 mins. Place the fish on top of the veg and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 12-15 mins until the fish is cooked.
Scatter over your remaining basil leaves and finish with lemon juice and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.
