Fish is wrapped around a delicious nut-free pesto and then cooked with a dollop of ghee for a delicious meal that is much more simple to make than it appears. Serve it with an orange juice and olive oil dressed apple and carrot slaw for a refreshing and flavorful side.
I am so excited to share my first recipe creation with all of you wonderful Nourishing Gourmet readers!
In January, I started back to school; studying to become a Registered Holistic Nutritionist (RHN). I am totally fascinated by all of the new things I am learning. When reading about the Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acid Ratio, I became a little obsessed with getting more fish into my weekly menu plan. In looking at my diet, I knew I was taking in way more Omega-6 than 3. I needed to make some adjustments, which gave birth to this recipe creation.
Stuffing sole is really simple, even though it looks all fancy pants. My kids really go for this kind of thing. Making food seem special or dressy is just fun to them… like stuffing a squash, zucchini or apples.
For this dish, I made a simple pesto using hemp hearts, chives and dill. Hemp hearts are an awesome source of protein and fat. They are quite easily digested and do not need the typical soaking that other nuts and seeds require. We have nut sensitivities in my house, so I use hemp hearts often, like in my favorite salad dressing.
I added the pesto to some chopped spinach and artichoke hearts to create this amazing filling. I used canned artichoke hearts in water, but you could use fresh or frozen also (just steam them a bit first to make them tender).
I then simply placed a large scoop of the filling on the fillet (closer to the fat end) and rolled towards the skinny end. Be sure you place the fish in the dish with the open end down so that it doesn’t pop open during baking.
If you are able to eat dairy, you could easily add in some ricotta or even parmesan cheese sprinkled on top; or how about this Macadamia Nut *parmesan cheese* . I bet that would be amazing!
To keep things light and fresh, I added a simple Apple Carrot Slaw on the side. Perfection!
- 6 sole fillets
- 1 cup loosely packed chopped baby spinach
- 4 artichoke hearts diced
- 6 Teaspoons Ghee, butter or other fat
- For The Pesto
- ½ cup hemp hearts
- 1 clove of garlic
- ½ cup of fresh dill
- 3-5 sprigs of Chives
- The Juice of half a lemon
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- For The Slaw
- 6 Carrots julienned
- 3 apples julienned
- 4-6 radish thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped chives
- 2-4 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
- The Juice of ½ an orange
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and pepper to taste.
- To Make Pesto
- Place the hemp hearts, garlic, chives, dill, salt, pepper, lemon juice and oil in a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Preheat oven to 375F
- Place the spinach and artichokes in a medium bowl. Add the pesto and stir to combine.
- Lay out the sole fillets on a cutting board. Divide the mixture among the 6 fillets. Roll from the fat end to the skinny end. Place on an oven safe baking dish with the open end down. Put a dollop of ghee on the top of each rolled fillet, and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- For the slaw
- In a small bowl whisk together the orange juice, olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Set the dressing aside.
- In a large bowl add the apple, carrot, radish, cilantro and chives. Add the orange dressing. Toss the salad so that the dressing coats everything. Cover and set in the fridge to marinade for 20 minutes or more, or less (the longer the better flavor development)
Danielle Rouse is the creative energy behind the allergy friendly recipe blog, Fresh4Five | Real Food, Fresh Ideas. This mother of three has a passion for nutrition and cooking with fresh and wholesome ingredients. Danielle has become and expert at developing recipes to meet the complex dietary needs of her family. She is currently studying to become a Registered Holistic Nutritionist at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. Fresh4Five hosts an array of family friendly recipes that are paleo-friendly and free of gluten, dairy, soy, and nuts.
Read all of Danielle’s posts here.
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Latest posts by Danielle Rouse (see all)
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Just reading the name of this post made me hungry. I love healthy food and the fact that there are so many healthy ingredients in this meal is great. This dish is a little more complicated to make than some that I’ve seen but it definitely looks like it would be worth it when you’re done. And it’s a healthy alternative to what far too many families are eating for dinner.