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Whole Baked Fish with Lemon & Ouzo

Wow your guests with this simple and perfectly summery fish dish

15 minutes prep, 1 hour 10 minutes cook

Serves 4

Ingredients

1kg new potatoes, scrubbed

2 tbsps rapeseed or olive oil, plus extra for the fish and capers

30g butter

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon, plus 1 lemon, sliced

1 head of garlic (unpeeled), broken up into cloves

1 large seabass or similar or 2 smaller fish, cleaned and descaled

A few sprigs of thyme and or/lemon thyme and dill

100ml white wine

50ml ouzo or other anise-based spirit

2 tbsps capers

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the lemon and ouzo sauce:

2 egg yolks

1 tsp Dijon mustard

200ml neutral-tasting oil, such as sunflower

50ml Greek yoghurt

2 tbsps ouzo or similar anise-based spirit

Juice of 1⁄2 lemon

A pinch of sugar (optional)

1 tbsp finely chopped dill

1⁄2 tsp fennel seeds, finely crushed (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes in plenty of salted water until just tender. Run under cold water until cool enough to handle. Squash in your hands so they break roughly in half, then put in a roasting tin.

Heat the oil and the butter together until the butter has melted then add the lemon zest and juice. Pour all but a tablespoon of this mixture over the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic cloves, reserving a couple for the fish. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.

Cut a few slits into the fish on both sides. Peel and finely slice the reserved garlic and stuff some into the slits along with a few herb sprigs. Put the lemon slices, more herbs and a few more slices of garlic in the cavity of the fish.

Put the fish on top of the potatoes, then drizzle over the reserved tablespoon of lemony butter and a little more oil. Mix the wine and ouzo together and pour this over the fish and potatoes. Roast in the oven for a further 25-30 minutes until the fish is just cooked through.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Put the egg yolks and mustard in a bowl with a pinch of salt. Start drizzling in the oil, very gradually, whisking with a balloon whisk until it emulsifies and starts to thicken. At this point you can speed up the drizzling a little. When you have incorporated all the oil, whisk in the yogurt, ouzo and lemon juice. Season with salt, then taste - you may need a little more, along with a pinch of sugar to balance out the flavours. Stir in the dill and the fennel seeds, if using.

For the caper garnish, heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. When very hot, add the capers - they will splutter for a few moments. When it subsides, remove from the heat. Pour over the fish and serve immediately.