Simple ingredients, handled intelligently when combined with other flavours, work beautifully. Everything comes together to provide a dish of spectacular honesty. Choose the freshest fish you can find, and you will be in seventh heaven.

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Snapper, Broad Beans and Creamy Herb Vinaigrette

Serves 4

4 x 200g fillets of snapper

1 lemon, juiced

750g broad beans in their pods (300g shelled weight)

Olive oil

For the dressing

Makes 1 cup

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 shallots

1 lemon, juiced

2 tbsp white-wine vinegar

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs each of tarragon, chervil, basil and dill

1 tsp sugar

1 free-range egg

100ml olive oil

100ml peanut oil

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What to do

1. Make the creamy herb vinaigrette by blending all the dressing ingredients together, except for the oils, in a liquidiser until smooth. Combine the two oils together and slowly pour into the machine, with the motor running, in a thin stream until you have a thick dressing. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until needed. 

2. Set the oven to 180˚C. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in an ovenproof dish over a medium heat and sprinkle the fish with salt and cook until golden brown on one side in the hot oil, about a minute. 

3. Carefully turn the fish over and bake for 6-8 minutes until opaque and the flesh flakes easily. Squeeze the lemon juice over the fish and carefully lift the fish out onto warm plates. 

4. Pod the broad beans and boil them in salted water until tender, about 6 minutes. Drain and rinse them under cold, running water. Pop the larger beans from their skins and set all the beans to one side. 

5. Toss the beans in enough dressing to lightly coat them, and place next to the fish and serve.

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