The easiest and tastiest way to cook fish is to bake it whole, head and all – ask your fish monger to scale, gut and trim your fish. Before cooking, give it a soak in salt water, a trick I learned from a chef in the south of France 20 odd years ago – then drain, pat the fish dry and you are ready to go.
In this recipe the fish is baked nestled in a bed of tomatoes bathed in olive oil seasoned with garlic, herbs and lemon. It yields not only a perfectly moist, bake fish but also a delicious sauce that can be tossed with pasta. Serve the pasta tossed with the tomato sauce first followed by the fish, as they would in Italy, or be a little less civilised and serve them both at the same time.
Ingredients
- Serves 6
- 1 whole seabass, red snapper or daurade (bream), about 1 1/2 lbs to 2 lbs (700 to 900 g) scaled and gutted, head on
- Sea salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1 1/2 lbs (700 g) cherry tomatoes, rinsed, dried and halved
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 10 fresh basil leaves
- 3 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons white wine or water
- 3/4 lb pasta, spaghetti or Linguine
- Flat-leaf parsley, about 1/2 cup, roughly chopped
- Lemons for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F (200 °C)
- Rinse the fish, then soak for 30 minutes in a salt bath - (1 tablespoon sea salt per 4 cups of cold water) - this will season the fish and reduce fishy smells. Remove the fish from the salt bath, pat dry with paper towel and transfer to a large roasting dish.
- Combine 1/4 cup of olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and lemon zest. Put the tomatoes in a large bowl and toss the with the salt, pepper and herbs. Scatter the tomatoes around the fish in the baking dish and pour the olive oil mixture over both the tomatoes and the fish. Season the fish with a pinch of salt, some fresh pepper and spoon over the white wine or water. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.
- While the fish is cooking, bring a large pot of cold water to boil, add salt to taste. About 5 minutes before taking the fish out of the oven, add the pasta to the water and cook for 8-10 minutes depending on the brand, but 1 minute less than instructed for al dente.
- Remove the fish from the oven and let rest 10 minutes. Transfer the whole fish to a warm serving platter, cover with aluminium foil and keep warm.
- Transfer all the cooking juices and tomatoes from the roasting dish to a large skillet. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil and bring to a simmer. Drain the pasta and add to the skillet, sauté 1 minute, turning the pasta in the sauce to coat and absorb juices.
- Sprinkle the pasta with parsley and serve followed by the fish or serve both at the same time.
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https://www.charlottepuckette.com/recipes/main-dish-seafoodfish/whole-fish-baked-with-tomatoes-olive-oil-garlic-and-herbs-served-with-pasta/
