Fish makes an ideal summer dinner, but finding interesting ways to serve it is an eternal struggle. This simple but delicious recipe from one of our favourite new cookbooks is perfect for a mini alfresco soiree and even recommends serving with chips (homemade or frozen oven chips) – which can only ever be a good thing.

Kcal: 172

Saturated fat: 0.7g

Preparation time: 10 minutes (plus 30 minutes chilling time)

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4):

4 200g fillets of whiting, with the skin on (if you can’t get hold of whiting, use pollock or cod instead)

1 tsp crushed salt

2 tbsp olive oil

For the shrimp butter:

100g unsalted butter, cubed

200g peeled brown shrimp (if you can’t find them replace with the same quantity of halved cooked prawns)

Finely pared zest of one lemon plus a squeeze of juice

3 tbsps chopped curly parsley

To serve:

Chips

Salad

Lemon wedges

Method

Step 1: Place the whiting on a large plate and scatter with the salt. Pop in the fridge, uncovered, for 30 minutes or as long as you’ve got – the salt adds extra flavour and draws out the moisture from the fish and really helps to firm it up.

Step 2: Blot the fish dry with some kitchen roll and remove some of the salt. drizzle the fish with the oil and season with plenty of black pepper.

Step 3: Heat two non-stick frying pans until really hot and add two pieces of fish to each. Cook over a high heat for 2-3 minutes each side. reduce the heat a little and dot over the butter. Add the shrimp and lemon zest as soon as the butter starts to foam and then squeeze over some lemon juice.

Step 4: Cook for a couple of minutes, shaking the pan occasionally so that all the shrimp is coated in hot butter. Check the seasoning and then scatter the parsley over. serve on hot plates with chips, salad and lemon wedges.

From The Weekend Cookbook by Catherine Hill, £18.99, Michael Joseph