Caramelised brill with spring onions two ways and wild garlic pasta ribbons

Serves 4 Starters and mains

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Method

To make the wild garlic pasta, finely chop the leaves and put in a processor with one of the eggs and process to a smooth purée. Add the flour and the other egg and pulse again until the dough forms a ball.

Cut the dough into 4 equally sized portions and, using a pasta maker, roll a piece at a time. Use a dusting of flour if it is too sticky.

Pass each piece of dough through the widest setting 3 times, then gradually narrow the setting as you roll out, until you have thin, pliable sheets of pasta. Repeat with the remaining dough portions. Tear or cut the pasta into wide ribbons and put on a lightly floured tray large enough so that the pasta doesn’t overlap. Set aside until ready to use. (It can be frozen at this stage on trays and, once frozen, piled into a smaller container – it is then ready to cook from frozen.)

To make the caramel, dissolve the sugar in 3tbsp of water in a small pan over a low heat. When syrupy, increase the heat and boil for 2 minutes until caramelising. Remove from the heat and add the fish sauce, then return to the heat and boil again until just coating a spoon. Pour into a bowl.

Cut 8 of the spring onions in half and shred into fine strands, then lay them on kitchen paper to dry out. Heat 100ml of the sunflower oil in a wok and fry half the shredded spring onion at a time until just crisp, then lift onto kitchen paper to drain. Fluctuate the heat so they don’t burn. Sprinkle the fillets with a little sea salt on both sides and set aside for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the rest of the spring onions into 2cm lengths. Heat 1tbsp of the remaining oil in a wok and fry the sliced onion, then stir-fry until golden. Add the spring onions and garlic and stir-fry for 50 seconds. Add the chilli oil and the caramel and cook for 1 minute to thicken. Pat the fish fillets dry with kitchen paper and cut in half diagonally. Heat a large frying pan and add the remaining tbsp of the oil and fry the fish for 2 minutes each side, or until cooked to your liking. Pour over the onion caramel and turn the fillets gently in the mixture to coat.

To cook the pasta, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta ribbons for a few minutes until they turn a shade lighter and float to the surface. Drain and divide between plates and top with the fish fillets and some of the onion-caramel mixture. Scatter the fried spring onion shreds over the top and serve immediately.