I told you about my mission to the market, preceded by a phone call to my mom to get tips on a good fish and a delicious way to prepare it, and here is the recipe she suggested.
I made it for dinner and it was really delicious. It is also a very healthy meal and one that won’t stuff you.
My mom suggested to prepare the fish al cartoccio that is wrapped in aluminum foil together with all the other ingredients and baked. By sealing the fish with the other ingredients you obtain a marvelous mix of flavors and the fish will remain incredibly moist. Try this out, I was impressed by the incredible flavor of this dish.
Not only this is delicious but it is also incredibly easy: chop, toss everything together, close your cartoccio (wrap) and bake. Open your cartoccio and serve! That’s really it.
The following ingredients fed the hubby and me, one fish filet each, but you may want to buy one fish per person, it also depends on the size of the fish. I saved some of my fillet for lunch the following day, and it was still very good so don’t worry if you have leftovers.
Ingredients
- 1 (or 2) sea bream
- salt
- black pepper
- 1 rosemary sprig
- half lemon
- 2 potatoes
- 6 campari tomatoes
- 20 black olives (my mom suggested Italian olive Taggiasche but I couldn’t find them)
- olive oil
- 1/4 glass white wine
Directions
Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F).
Prepare your cartoccio wrapping with a layer of aluminum foil covered with parchment paper. The foil will help you seal the fish and the parchment is useful so the fish and vegetables don’t end up stuck on the foil. Place the cartoccio in an oven proof pan.
Ask your fishmonger to clean the fish for you (you know, the nasty stuff: eviscerate and remove the scales).
Wash and pat dry the fish, outside and inside.
Transfer the fish to your cartoccio, salt and pepper it lightly inside and outside. Insert the rosemary sprig in the fish’s belly, along with a couple of slices of lemon.
Your fish is ready so on to the vegetables. Peel and cut the potatoes, they should be roughly 2 cm (3/4″) cubes. Cut the campari tomatoes in half.
Spread tomatoes, potatoes and black olives all around the fish, sprinkle with olive oil, some coarse grain salt and pour the wine.
Wrap the parchment paper over the fish then close the aluminum foil carefully, you want it well sealed.
Transfer to the oven and bake for 50 minutes.
It’s readyyyy! Take it out of the oven, open your wrapping, careful not to spill all the juicy juice laying on the bottom!
Remove skin and bones from your fish, serve with the vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes and olives) and spoon some of the juice over the fish and the vegetables. Truly delicious!
I saved a piece of fillet and some vegetables along with all the left over juice from dinner. The following day I reheated everything together in a small pan for a few minutes, it was just as good!
