Baked Whole Sea Bass with Mediterranean Vegetables

Both Marlini and I love Fish and Seafood and will do our utmost to incorporate it into our diet at any given opportunity. Whilst I would love to purchase our fish stock locally – and keep us budding pescatarians happy in the process – fresh seafood has been disappointingly out of reach for the last few years. Covid was the real nail in the coffin, as the supermarkets in Wakefield (which we used to rely on) closed every Fishmonger counter – never to reopen. It is such a crying shame. We had the opportunity to travel into Leeds and stock up at the excellent Kirkgate Fish Market however, it was not always that practical.

I had hoped our relocation to Lincoln would have rendered us spoiled for choice (after all, Grimsby Fish Market is an hour away) – sadly we are no better served. Having travelled extensively with Marlini and visited some amazing Fish markets in France, Greece, Sicily, Morocco, Thailand – we remain underwhelmed as to what post-Brexit Britain has to offer. It is not as if we are an island, surrounding by the sea. Oh wait!

Thankfully, and whilst a limited range, we can get decent quality fish and seafood delivered with our weekly online grocery delivery. This includes excellent farmed Sea Bream and Sea Bass (both in their fillet or whole form). If you live in the UK, you should really try the brand Fish Said Fred. Not only is the quality of the fish exceptional, it is well-prepared, cleaned, vacuum-sealed, and sustainably sourced. The founder makes an important thing of sustainability – something which really matters to us too. Fish Said Fred’s website also offers some excellent recipes for quick and tasty meals for Sea Bass, Cod, Haddock, Sea Bream, Pollock and Hake.

This Baked Whole Sea Bass with Mediterranean Vegetables recipe started life as a hybrid between Fish Said Fred’s tray bake recipe for Sea Bream, combined with another we found online. As ever, we adapted to better suit our palette. You guessed it… in went chilli and more of our staple ingredients.

Benefits of Vacuum Sealing and Freezing

What makes a huge difference is that the fish we use is vacuum sealed, meaning they can go straight to the freezer without freezer burn occurring (whilst of course locking in the natural flavour). Our rule of thumb for pretty much everything we freeze is to buy it sealed, or vacuum it ourselves. Better still, it significantly reduces the time to it takes to defrost. Naturally, a whole fish takes longer than a fillet, but you may be surprised to learn that if you submerge a vacuum sealed whole fish in cold water (we use our side sink almost exclusively for defrosting this way), it will be ready in ~ 2 hours. This makes ad hoc meal planning a lot more versatile.

Whilst many budding cooks may be limited for space, I would really try and urge you to find a home for and invest in a good quality vacuum sealer. They are of course essential should you venture down the Sous Vide method of cooking.

Evolution of Baked Whole Sea Bass with Mediterranean Vegetables Recipe

As alluded to above, our typical approach when cooking something for the first time is to follow a recipe verbatim, then get creative. We typically adapt based on personal preferences for certainly flavours, or because of ingredients we typically have at hand. What started off as an all-in-one tray bake including potatoes, we didn’t achieve the desired texture – so ended up cooking them separately and replacing with fennel. Timing was easy to achieve, as we started off by microwaving the potatoes, then stirring in a blend of sunflower oil, grated garlic, and seasoning before air frying for the time it takes to bake a whole fish. Of course, if neither microwave nor air fryer are part of your kitchen equipment arsenal, there are certain more traditional substitutes which work just as well. I will try and add our new potato recipe in due course.

I really hope you get the opportunity to make this Baked Whole Sea Bass with Mediterranean Vegetables recipe, and as ever, welcome any comments you may have. We have made this version about 5 times, but would welcome any suggestions that we can include the next time we bake whole Sea Bass.

Baked Whole Sea Bass with Mediterranean Vegetables

Richard Bewley

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Course Main

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  

• 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
• 1 large Fennel bulb Cleaned, trimmed, halved and cut into thin slices
• 1 large red onion Peeled and sliced into thin wedges
• 1 large Romano pepper halved, deseeded, and cut into 5mm slices
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2-3 large Garlic cloves Peeled and grated
• 3 fresh Bay leaves halved lengthwise
• 1 large lemon sliced
• 1 red chilli finely diced
• 2 whole Sea Bass Cleaned, trimmed, and dried.
• 20 black kalamata olives
• 10 small vine ripened tomatoes
• sea salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Pre-heat oven to 180 C
• Brush liberally the base and sides of a large rectangular baking dish with olive oil. The dish needs to fit the Whole Sea Basses with space for tomatoes at either end.
  2 tbsp olive oil
• Add the sliced red onion, fennel, romano pepper, red chilli, grated garlic and dried oregano. Season thoroughly with freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, and combine thoroughly. Add a drizzle more olive oil if required.
  1 large Fennel bulb, 1 large red onion, 1 large Romano pepper, 1 tbsp dried oregano, 2-3 large Garlic cloves, 1 red chilli
• Bake in the oven for ~20 -25 minutes. Meanwhile, trim the tail and fins from the Sea bass using kitchen scissors. Rinse fish in cold water and dry thoroughly using kitchen towel. Make 3 diagonal scores in the top of the skin.
  2 whole Sea Bass
• Stuff the Sea Bass cavity with lemon slices, add the bay leaves into the cuts made in the fish, and generously season with freshly ground sea salt and a little black pepper.
  1 large lemon, 3 fresh Bay leaves
• Remove baking tray from oven, and increase oven temperature to 210 C
• Add the black kalamata olives and any remaining lemon slices to the vegetables, and mix evenly. Layer the Sea Bass on top, and place the vine ripened tomatoes at either end. Drizzle a little oil over the tomatoes followed by a grind of black pepper.
  20 black kalamata olives, 10 small vine ripened tomatoes, sea salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste
• Return baking tray to oven for a further 20 minutes, or until the Sea Bass Skin has started to crisp up.
• Serve with potatoes, salad, or whatever takes your fancy.

Notes

I always prefer the taste of olives when the stones are kept in. However, make sure you let your dining companion know in advance to avoid potential (and expensive) trip to the dentist. Of course, you can substitute with any olive (pitted or otherwise). 

2024 Quite the Unexpected Start to the Year

Finally, this year has been a little challenging for the both of us and has kept me away from this blog. Not only did my day job end (leaving me with the task of finding what next…still ongoing), Marlini also became paw parents to brothers Aslan and Max (our frenetic and adorable Siberian kittens!). To say that we were woefully unprepared is an understatement – three months on since they came into our lives, we are now Aslan and Max’s devoted slaves. In all fairness, the sheer amount of love, affection, and emotional support they provide in return for the occasionally unwelcome whims is very fair compensation. Aslan and Max could not have come into our lives at a better time. I am sure to share some feline anecdotes in over the coming months.
They absolutely love being in the kitchen and do not always get the hint that their presence is not always the most helpful, or for that matter than my leg is not a scratching post!