Whole baby snapper with burnt butter sauce and crispy sage

200 g butter

½ tsp garlic, diced

2 tbsp capers

2 tbsp Kalamata olives, chopped

4 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 lemon, half juiced, half wedges

50 ml oil for frying

1 bunch sage leaves, picked

1 baby snapper

Flour for coating

Salt & pepper, to season

In a small pot, melt butter over a medium heat with garlic and cook out until the white foam begins to turn brown. Quickly add the capers, olives and cherry tomatoes, then remove from the heat and squeeze in the lemon juice to stop the cooking process. Set aside in a warm place.

Fill another small pot with about 1 centimetre of oil and heat over a medium heat. To test if it is the right temperature (180°C) and if you don’t have a thermometer, add a sage leaf. It should bubble vigorously and turn the leaf a darker translucent green. Fry the sage leaves in batches. When ready, remove from oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a dish lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Toss the baby snapper in the flour and shake off any excess. Heat 50 millilitres olive oil in a large nonstick pan and add baby snapper, season with salt and pepper and reduce to a medium heat and cook for 7 minutes. Gently flip the baby snapper and cook for a further 7 minutes or until cooked through.

To serve

Place the baby snapper in the centre of the plate and spoon over the burnt butter sauce generously. Finish with crispy sage leaves and a wedge of lemon.