Derry Clarke and his wife Sallyanne have turned their restaurant L'Ecrivain into one of Dublin's best restaurants. A recent re-fit has created a really comfortable and chic dining room, where diners can enjoy Derry's Michelin starred food. This recipe comes from their new book 'Not Just a Cookbook', which as it name suggests, is full of stories as well as recipes. It's on sale from mid-October 2004 at €29.99.

Roast hake wrapped in Parma ham scented with lemon & herbs, Parmesan butter
(Serves 4)

640 g fillet of hake, skinned, pin bones removed
1 tablespoon salt
1 lemon, washed
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon coriander, chopped
½ clove of garlic, peeled & crushed
4 slices of Parma ham
salt & freshly ground white pepper
25 g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

Parmesan butter
100 g broad beans, podded
salt
50 g butter, softened
20 g Parmesan cheese, finely grated juice of ½ lemon
½ clove of garlic, peeled & crushed
1 tomato, skinned, deseeded & chopped
1 small bunch of mixed herbs (flat leaf parsley, chervil, chives), chopped
pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Roast hake wrapped in Parma ham scented with lemon & herbs
Bring a medium-sized saucepan of water to the boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the lemon. Cover the saucepan and simmer the lemon for 1 hour to make a lemon confit. Cool the lemon, remove the skin and pith, and chop the flesh. Mix the chopped lemon with the parsley, coriander and garlic.

Lay a strip of clingfilm 65 cm x 25 cm on a work surface. Cover with a layer of slightly overlapping Parma ham. Lay the hake across the Parma ham and make a 1 cm incision left to right across its middle. Rub the lemon and herb mix into this and season with salt and pepper. Roll up the hake and Parma ham, securing with the clingfilm and tying both ends as tightly as possible. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5. Remove the clingfilm and cut into four equal cylindrical portions. Heat an ovenproof frying pan. Heat the butter and olive oil in the pan and sear the ham-wrapped hake for 1 minute each side, then transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 10 minutes.

Parmesan butter
Blanch the beans in a medium-sized saucepan of boiling salted water for 1-2 minutes. Drain the beans and skin them, using a small, sharp knife. Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl.

To serve
Place a portion of cooked hake in the centre of each warm plate and top with a teaspoon of softened Parmesan butter.