Roast whole fish with salsa romesco

2 servings 30-60 minutes baked fish fish recipe hazelnut hazelnuts healthy recipes lemon lemons mains mediterranean recipes new potato new potatoes over 800 kcal red chilli red chillies red pepper red peppers romesco sauce sea bass sea bream seabass seafood recipe sherry vinegar summer tomato tomatoes white fish

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Source

Ingredients

2 whole farmed sea bream , sea bass or other sustainably caught medium-size white fish, about 500g each, scaled and gutted (ask your fishmonger to do this for you)

2 lemons , thickly sliced

buttered or sautéed new potatoes , to serve

3 red peppers , deseeded and cut into quarters

600g ripe red tomato , roughly chopped

1 garlic clove , crushed

1 red chilli , deseeded and finely chopped

handful flat-leaf parsley , stalks and leaves separated

50g blanched hazelnuts , roughly crushed

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil , plus extra for drizzling

Method

Heat the grill to high. Put the peppers, skin-side up, onto a baking tray and grill for about 20 mins until the skins blacken all over. Put them into a food bag, seal, then leave for 10 mins. Once cool, peel away the skins. Tear the flesh into strips. Mix with the tomatoes, garlic and chilli in a bowl. Roughly chop most of the parsley leaves and add to the bowl with the hazelnuts, vinegar and oil, then stir well. This salad ‘matures’ well, and tastes even better if you can make it a few hours ahead.

When ready to cook, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Rinse and dry the fish, score the flesh on each side, then put the parsley stalks and a few lemon slices into the cavities. Put a few more lemon slices in an oiled baking dish and lay the fish on top. Season the fish well, drizzle with more olive oil, scatter with remaining parsley, then roast for 20 mins, until the flesh flakes easily.

Serve the fish from the dish, set the bowl of salad and the potatoes alongside, then dig in.