Sea bream with those sunshine flavours: black and green olives; capers; tomatoes; basil; coriander and thyme. This recipe is so simple - it will take about 15 minutes, max, to complete the fish dish from start to finish. The garnish of sunshine flavours is almost like a vinaigrette, perfect for the sea bream. Be generous with the garnish as there's a lot of fish there. It's such a simple dish as whilst you cook your fish, you can make the garnish. Simple.
Method
1. Heat your oven to 200°C, Gas Mark 6.
2. Descale the fish with a knife (or a potato peeler). Even if the fishmonger has already done this, check it again with a knife. Check the fish has been gutted properly and wash under cold water.
3. Make a paste using the Knorr Fish Stock Cube, the olive oil and the lemon juice.
4. Season the fish by rubbing the paste inside the fish and then outside – always go from head to tail, so that you don’t spike yourself.
5. Put some thyme into the cavity of each fish, or rosemary or bay leaf if you prefer.
6. Heat 4 tbsp of olive oil into a heavy based pan (a Le Creuset© roasting dish would do) and cook the bream on a high flame. Personally, I’d roast both sides in the pan, but you’ll probably find it easier to cook one side on the hob and let the oven do the rest.
7. After about 2 minutes, transfer the pan to the top shelf of the oven for about 12 minutes until cooked through.
8. Make the vinaigrette by mixing the oil and lemon together with the tomatoes and olives.
9. Take the fish out of the oven, squeeze a little lemon juice over it while it’s still bubbling in the pan then simply lift them onto a big plate.
10. Pour the vinaigrette over the fish and then add some fresh basil and coriander on top.
11. Put the platter in the middle of the table and let people help themselves just as we do in Italy.
