Ingredients

• 300g/11oz haricot beans
• rinsed
• drained
• then left to soak in water overnight
• 1.5 litres/2½pints fish stock
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 300g/11oz raw tiger prawns
• shell on
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• roughly chopped
• 1 banana shallot
• roughly chopped
• 1 leek
• white only
• roughly chopped
• 2 tsp tomato purée
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 75ml/3fl oz dry vermouth or Noilly Pratt
• 110ml/4fl oz whipping cream
• 150g/5oz chorizo cooking sausage
• roughly chopped
• 2 spring onions
• finely sliced
• 40g/1½oz unsalted butter
• 1 lemon
• juice only
• 6 sprigs fresh chervil
• roughly chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 x 120g/4oz wild sea bass fillets
• 1 Baby Gem lettuce
• leaves separated
• 4 sprigs fresh chervil
• to serve

Directions

• For the cassoulet
• drain and rinse the soaked haricot beans. Place into a pan and cover with half of the fish stock. Add the thyme and bay leaves and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes
• or until the beans are just tender. Drain and discard the thyme
• bay leaves and cooking liquor
• set the beans aside.
• Shell half of the tiger prawns
• reserving the shells. Set the shelled prawns aside.
• Roughly chop the remaining whole prawns in their shells and add to the reserved prawn shells.
• Heat a frying pan until hot
• then add the olive oil
• garlic
• shallot and leek and cook for one minute.
• Add the chopped shell-on prawns and the reserved prawn shells and cook for a further minute.
• Add the tomato purée and cayenne pepper and cook for one minute.
• Add the vermouth and flambé to burn off the alcohol.
• Add the remaining fish stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to simmer for 5-8 minutes
• then add the cream. Stir well and remove from the heat. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes
• then pour into a blender and blend to a purée.
• Pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a clean pan.
• Meanwhile
• heat a clean frying pan until hot
• then add the chorizo and cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Add the cooked beans
• the raw shelled prawns and the spring onion and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Add 1-2 ladlefuls of the strained sauce to the chorizo and beans mixture and stir to combine
• then simmer until the prawns have turned pink and are cooked through. Reserve the remaining sauce to serve.
• Add the butter
• lemon juice and chervil to the cassoulet and stir well to combine. Season
• to taste
• with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• For the sea bass and lettuce
• place the sea bass fillets onto a chopping board and
• using a sharp knife
• score the skin
• at 1cm/½in intervals.
• Heat a frying pan until hot
• add the olive oil and the sea bass fillets
• skin-side down
• and cook for two minutes. Carefully turn the sea bass fillets over and cook for a further two minutes.
• Add the Little Gem leaves to the fish and cook until wilted slightly
• then remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Check the sea bass is cooked through
• then remove from the heat.
• To serve
• spoon equal amounts of the cassoulet into two bowls and top with the wilted lettuce leaves. Place a sea bass fillet on top of each and spoon the reserved sauce around. Garnish with fresh chervil sprigs.