Roast Sea Bass with Potatoes, Fennel & Tomatoes

preparation 10 minutes
cook time 1 hour
Serves 4

Roasting and serving a whole fish is a special thing and looks impressive at the table. As the sea bass bakes, all the juices combine with the base of potatoes and fennel

Recipe taken from Foolproof Fish by Libby Silbermann (£12.99, Quadrille)

Ingredients Method

1 sea bass, gutted
1 onion, sliced
5 garlic cloves
1 fennel bulb, cut into wedges
1kg waxy potatoes, thinly sliced
2 tbsps olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs of thyme
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 lemon, sliced
4 sprigs of rosemary

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C /Gas 6. In a large roasting tray, add the sliced onion, garlic cloves, fennel wedges and sliced potatoes. Drizzle this with the oil and lemon juice and then scatter over the bay leaves and half the thyme. Season well, cover with foil and place into the preheated oven for 30– 35 minutes.

After 30–35 minutes, remove the tray from the oven and take off the foil. Sprinkle over the caraway seeds and cumin seeds. Slash the fish five times on each side and then stuff the cavity with the rosemary, the remaining thyme, and some of the lemon slices. Place the fish on top of the potatoes and add any remaining lemon slices on top. Then place it back into the oven for a further 30 minutes.

When the fish has been cooking for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and add the vine tomatoes around the fish. Place the whole tray back into the oven for the remaining 15 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven and sprinkle over the chopped parsley. Bring the whole tray to the table and let everyone serve themselves.

Ingredients

1 sea bass, gutted

1 onion, sliced

5 garlic cloves

1 fennel bulb, cut into wedges

1kg waxy potatoes, thinly sliced

2 tbsps olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

2 bay leaves

4 sprigs of thyme

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 lemon, sliced

4 sprigs of rosemary

Method

When the fish has been cooking for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and add the vine tomatoes around the fish. Place the whole tray back into the oven for the remaining 15 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven and sprinkle over the chopped parsley. Bring the whole tray to the table and let everyone serve themselves.