Fish baked in salt

In southern Italy and particularly Sicily, baking whole fish in salt has been practiced for many years. The salt is used not to flavour the fish but to provide a medium through which the fish cooks beautifully but retains a moist interior and amazing sweetness to its' flesh.

In this recipe I'm suggesting cooking 3 different fish, however this is not absolutely necessary, the dish will work with 1 choice of fish.

Ingredients:

3 whole fish weighing approximately 900 g each - ideally sea bass, sea bream and red mullet

Several sprigs of fresh fennel and dill, handful of parsley

juice of 2 lemons

a minimum of 1.5 kg sea salt

350 g butter

flavoured butter as a garnish, parsley or lemon butter perhaps

Start by preheating your oven to 220 C.

Take each fish, and if not already gutted and scaled by your fishmonger, cleanse and scale the fish thoroughly. Once gutted, scaled and dried, stuff the cavities of the fish with the sprigs of fennel and dill plus the parsley. Squeeze a good amount of lemon juice into the cavities also.

Now take a large ovenproof baking dish and cover the base with half of the sea salt. Carefully place the fish on top of the salt and cover completely with the remainder, ensuring that the salt is well packed around the fish, and that the fish are covered completely.

Place the baking tray in the top of the oven and bake for 25 minutes. The salt crust will have started to colour at this stage. The fish are now cooked.

Whilst the fish are cooking, prepare the flavoured butter by mixing butter with lemon zest or finely chopped parsley and then placing in the freezer.

In addition, make a quick lemon butter sauce by heating some lemon juice in a saucepan and whisk in small knobs of butter until the desired consistency is created.

When ready to serve, crack the salt crust and remove each fish onto a serving plate, pour over a little of the lemon butter sauce. Serve with the flavoured butters, and perhaps some new potatoes or simply steamed greens.

This method of cooking fish creates the most marvelous contrast between the crispy exterior and the meltingly moist, fully flavoured flesh within! In addition the use of 3 different fish add additional flavour and contrast.

Enjoy, especially with something chilled and white!

Comments

[MrKredit]

i belive your feed is broken

[Krankenversicherung Vergleich]

Wonderful recipie , thanks

[KFZ Versicherung]

THat really tastes good

[Kredit ohne Schufa]

very good reciep

thx from germany

[Kostenloser Backlink]

Hmmmmmmm . . . lecker
called in german for delicious ;-

thx for sharing

Peter