RECIPE: Sea Bream baked in paper with garlic, olive oil, chilli & rosemary by Mitch Tonks
Following on from our catch up with chef and entrepreneur Mitch Tonks, we take dish up some of his tasty recipes from his latest cookbook, Rockfish…
By Mitch Tonks
Cooking a fish ‘en papillote’, or in a bag, is an excellent way to prepare it. The fish retains its moistness and the other flavours that you add really get a chance to develop with the flavours of the fish to create something quite magical. The combination of roasted garlic, chilli and rosemary is a good one, as is thyme, lemon and cumin. But you will find your own preferences.
Look for wild gilt head or black bream, or use farmed gilt head bream, which are delicious and perfectly acceptable. Ask your fishmonger to scale and gut the fish and remove the head.
SERVES 2
8 garlic cloves
100ml olive oil
2 whole sea bream, weighing about 450g each, head removed
1 small fresh bird’s eye chilli, finely sliced
4 sprigs of rosemary
50ml white wine
finely chopped parsley
salt
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 160°C Fan/180°C/Gas Mark 4.
Place your garlic cloves, with the skin on, on
a small roasting tray, drizzle with a little of the olive oil and sprinkle with some salt. Roast for 10 minutes or until soft – you should be able to squeeze the garlic from the skin. If not then just cook a little longer. Set aside to cool slightly.
Turn up the oven to its maximum heat.
Cut out 2 pieces of baking parchment large enough to enclose a fish. Lay the parchment on the worktop and place the fish on it. Sprinkle the chilli over the fish and place the peeled garlic around it. Tuck some rosemary into the belly. Sprinkle with salt and pour over the rest of the olive oil. Fold the paper up and over the fish, and just before you seal it up completely, pour the wine into the corner, then finish sealing.
Place the parchment bags on a baking tray and cook for 15 minutes. Cut the paper open, sprinkle the fish with chopped parley and serve straight from the bag.
