For the Fish
Whole Sea Bream/Bass. Gutted and scaled by the fishmonger
(Buy bass here) (Buy bream here)
1-2 unwaxed lemons, sliced into medium slices
Fresh Herbs (at least parsley but any of oregano, marjoram, thyme, dill mint)
Good quality olive oil
100-200ml white wine or vermouth
For the Rest
Waxy Salad potatoes (cooked for 8 mins or so)
Olives in oil (& herbs)
Any veg you like from below:
Cherry Tomatoes (halved or whole)
Small – Medium Fennel (cut into segments or wedges 1-2cm)
Banana Shallots (halved)
Baby Corn (whole)
Baby Carrots (whole or halved, par cooked if desired)
Raddichio (what’s this?) or Endive (what’s this?) (halved or quartered)
The Method
Step 1 – The Fish:
Preheat oven to 190C – 200C (fan)
Slash fish 3-4 times right through to the bone
Season the fish inside and out
Drizzle a good amount of olive oil inside and out
Stuff the cavity of the fish with lemon slices and herbs
Put a line of lemon slices on top to look like scales. Do not cover all the skin
Place in a roasting tin.
Add about 100ml of white wine per kg of un-gutted fish or 50ml per gutted fish
Pour around the side of the dish – this is just to reduce into a juice and keep the temp of the fish down in the hot oven.
Step 2 – The Whole Plate:
I would put the carrots, corn, potatoes in a separate roasting dish and give them a 10-15 minute head start.
After that then add the shallots to that roasting tin.
In the roasting dish with the fish add the fennel, tomatoes and put the dish in the oven.
After 10-15 mins add the olives to the tin with the fish, and add the raddichio/endive
let cook for up to another 10 mins, though feel free to take fish out for 5 minutes if you want more colour on the potatoes.
Step 3 – To Serve:
The dish is ready to serve when you’ve got a bit of colour on the potatoes, the raddichio should go dark brown and the fish skin should have started to puff up.
Serve, if the fish is cooked properly its easy to bone it at the table.
Customer Tip: Tip: How many fish? Ask your fishmonger but 500g fish will serve 1-2; 750g for 2; 1kg for 4 etc.
This weeks recipe credit: Thank you to @rdhirinstantly
Not a fan of whole fish? To buy filleted Sea Bass instead, click here
