The sad truth of life is that plans don’t always turn out the way you want them to. And this is especially true for any attempt to create an atmosphere of romance in your adult life.
You might want to spend the entire day preparing an elaborate meal for the one you love, placing scented candles on every available flat surface and scattering a path of rose petals through the house for them. But there’s some work that needs sorting and some laundry you need to get out of the way first and suddenly you have less than half an hour until your love is at the door waiting to be wooed.
It’s at times like this that you end up desperately googling phrases like “romantic meal for two in 30 minutes”, before realising you’ve not taken into account the time needed to get to the supermarket and back. Don’t worry, we can save you.
The trick here is not to get overambitious, you want to make a simple meal, do it well, and not be afraid to use shortcuts when necessary. You do not have time for peeling potatoes or leaving stuff to marinate right now. What’s more, you want ingredients that you can probably find at your nearest convenience store. We’re going to take you through how to make a romantic fish supper in just 20 minutes.
First things first, put some white wine or prosecco in the fridge to chill.
Heat the oven to 200C for a fan oven, or gas mark 7. Now the first thing you want to do is put on your side, we used McCain potato wedges because they’re really, really easy to do but look and taste a bit fancy. Once they’re in the oven you can focus on the main.
Mix 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil with the grated zest of one lemon, two tablespoons of lemon juice, two tablespoons of small capers, two teaspoons of Dijon mustard and a tablespoon of water.
Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and put two 100g sea bass fillets on there, brush the skin with some olive oil and season with salt (if you can get Maldon, the really flaky posh sea salt). Stick it in the oven alongside your wedges for seven minutes or until the flesh begins to flake when you test it with a knife.
While the fish is cooking you can prepare the salad. There are plenty of bagged salads in supermarkets, but we recommend some nice peppery rocket and a handful plum tomatoes for a quick and effective salad.
The fish should be ready to come out at precisely the same time as the wedges. Bring the sea bass out and spoon over the dressing. Next, chop up some flat-leaf parsley and scatter it over the fish. Serve up, get it on a nicely laid out table with a candle and bring out the chilled wine. Now it’s time for the romancing to begin!