Baked Fuzzy Sole Roulades

• 8 two-ounce sole fillets
• 1¼ cup breadcrumbs
• 1 oz parmigiano, grated fine
• 3 tbs butter
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 large shallot, finely minced (about 3 tbs)
• ¼ cup finely minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
• 6" pan or copper butter-warmer, low-sided baking dish about 9” x 9” with cover, waxed paper, pastry brush, toothpicks.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Put the white wine in the small pan or butter-warmer, and simmer until reduced by half.  Add the tarragon, and the butter until it melts and simmers with the wine; take off heat, whisk with a fork, and let sit 5 minutes.

While the wine is reducing, mix together the breadcrumbs, the cheese, the shallot, parsley, pepper and salt in a small bowl.  Add half the butter-wine mixture and mix thouroughly; you should have a crumbly paste with a few clots of dry breadcrumbs.  

Lay the fillets out flat on a square of waxed paper. Cover the top of each filet 1/8" thick with the breadcrumb mixture, starting at one end and stopping about 3/4 short of the other.  Roll up each fillet into a tight roulade, finishing the roll with the bare end of the fillet.  Secure with 1-2 toothpicks, breaking the toothpicks in half if they are too long. 

Pour extra stuffing crumbs back into the bowl.  Brush each roulade with some of the remaining butter/wine mixture, and then sprinkle on crumbs until it is covered in a dusting of crumbs.  Place the roulades, widely spaced, in the baking dish.  Pour the last of the butter & wine into the bottom of the dish.

Notes: you can vary the size of the fillet for this, using Dover, English, Petrale sole or even flounder.  The critical issue is that the fillets be the same length and thickness so that they cook at the same rate.  Smaller roulades are easier to cook to an even level of doneness.  This recipe will take store-bought or whole wheat breadcrumbs; if using finer, dryer store-bought crumbs, use ¾ cup instead of 1¼ cup.  To make the stuffing mix fast and easy, use a food processor and pulverize the parsley, bread and cheese together.  You could use a different combination of herbs than tarragon & parsley if you wished, including basil, thyme or marjoram. You can also use a different hard cheese such as Gruyere, manchego or pecorino.  Does not make good leftovers.

The pictures are for a half recipe, since it was only the two of us.