Recipes from Andalucia

By Nick Nutter

Baked Sea Bream

This recipe originates in Rota. Sea Bream is caught locally and appears in the pescaderias and supermarkets. This is a very simple, tasty way to serve this delicately flavoured fish

Preparation Time: 15 mins Cooking Time: 60 mins Total Time: 75 mins
Serves: 2 Difficulty: Moderate Suitable for: Meat and Fish eaters

Ingredients

• 3 large waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ cm slices
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 large green pepper, seeds removed, sliced
• 300g tomatoes, skinned and chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 x 400g whole sea bream, scaled and gutted
• ½ lemon, juice only
• 4 tbsp dry sherry
• small handful flatleaf parsley, leaves chopped, to serve
• grated peel of lemon to serve
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• For the picada
• small handful flatleaf parsley, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• ½ tsp sea salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.

Arrange the potatoes in an ovenproof dish large enough to accommodate the sea bream. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil. Bake for 20 minutes.

In a lidded frying pan, warm 2 tablespoons oil over medium-low heat. Fry the onion, garlic and pepper for 10–15 minutes, or until soft. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf and a little water, cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes.

Season the fish with ½ teaspoon salt and black pepper. Place on top of the cooked potato.

To make the picada, using a mortar and pestle, grind the parsley, garlic and salt together, then spread it over the fish.

Add 4 tablespoons of water and the lemon juice to the dish, then pour the tomato mixture over everything. Drizzle over the remaining oil and the sherry and bake for 20–25 minutes. Scatter the parsley and grated lemon over the top and serve immediately.