[Lazy Recipes] Quick and Simple Seafood Dinner for Two

Summer is finally here in London and the weather is getting warmer and warmer each day. You just came home from work but you still want to impress your significant other with a nice home cooked dinner. If this resonates with you, I just happened to have the perfect recipe for you: fresh British mussels in white wine sauce, and a simple parchment baked trout and veggies. It’s so beautiful and delicious yet so quick and simple to make. weeknight dinner could not be any better.

Parchment Baked Trout with Veggies

Ingredients:

• 2 fillets of trout

• 1 small Onion, thinly sliced

• 1/2 Carrot, thinly sliced

• handful of Mushrooms, sliced

• 8-10 Cherry Vine Tomatoes, leave whole or cut in half.

• Butter

• White Wine

• Salt and Pepper

Methods:

1. Sprinkle both sides of the trout fillets evenly with generous amount of salt. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, and then blot away any moisture using a piece of tissue paper.

2. On a large piece of parchment paper, layer over all the sliced veggies, the fish, and a knob of butter. drizzle over 1-2 Tbsp of white wine, and season with salt and pepper.

3. Wrap everything up using the parchment paper, making a cute and delicious parcel. Make sure nothing leaks.

4. Over a saute pan, put in the parcels, put the lid on and let the parcel bake for around 20 minutes on medium heat. Alternatively, the parcels could be baked in a oven preheated to 200°C for 20-25 minutes.

5. Once the parcels are out of the oven, let them sit for 5 mins (so you don't burn yourself). Once the parcels have cooled down slightly, cut them open and remove the fish from the rest of the veggies. Melt 2 Tbsp of butter in a frying pan and fry the trout fillets, skin side down, for 2-5 minutes on high, until the skin becomes golden and crispy.

6. To assemble the dish, move all the veggies to a plate, place the tender fillet with crispy skin on top of the veggies, and garnish with fresh, chopped parsley.

Mussels in White Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of fresh Mussels, washed and soaked in plenty of water and a pinch of salt for at least 15 minutes. Drain well before cooking.

• 1 small Onion, finely chopped

• 1 fat clove of Garlic, minced

• 1 glass of White Wine, around 250 mL

• Butter

• Fresh Cream

• Salt and Pepper

• Parsley

Methods:

1. In a large pot, melt 1 big knob of butter. Add the chopped onions and garlic over medium heat until fragrant and the onions softens and turns translucent.

2. Chuck in all the mussels, toss them around for 1 minute or so, then pour in the glass of white wine. Immediately put the lid back on and cover it up, let the mussels steam for around 5-10 minutes, shaking the pot occasionally to ensure the mussels cook evenly.

3. Check and see if all the mussels have opened. If a lot of them are still closed, continue to cook them for a little longer. If majority of them have already opened while a few of them remained closed, remove those that won't opened as they're not fresh.

4. Add in a splash of cream, season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish with plenty of fresh, chopped parsley, and serve immediately with some crusty bread to suck up all the delicious juices.

Bonus recipe:

The white wine cream sauce leftover in the pot makes a great pasta dish. All you need to do with add some water to the sauce, and cooked 200g of pasta according to package instruction (I prefer linguine for this) in it, as if you would with water. The result is a delicious, and luxurious, creamy pasta dish. By all means feel free to toss in some prawns or squid to make it a delightful seafood pasta in white wine cream sauce.