Sea Bream
Submitted by sarah hyland
Oven-baked sea bream fillets with cherry tomatoes, capers, anchovies, black olives, and white wine. A Mediterranean one-pan fish supper finished under foil and served with crusty bread.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
1 hrsREADY
1 hrsA Mediterranean fish supper that leans hard on pantry punches: capers, anchovies, black olives, cherry tomatoes, white wine, and a good glug of olive oil. The anchovies dissolve into the oil and disappear, leaving behind a deep, briny base that coats the sea bream without tasting fishy.
The fillets get a 30-minute lemon juice marinade first, which firms the flesh slightly and stops it from flaking apart mid-bake. Meanwhile the sauce builds on the stovetop: garlic sizzles in olive oil, capers and anchovies soften in, then half the wine deglazes before the tomatoes go in to break down for 10 minutes of hands-off simmering.
Fish and sauce meet in the oven under foil for 20 minutes, then uncovered for the last 10 to let the surface dry slightly and the flavors concentrate. Serve straight from the dish with country bread to mop up the herbed pan juices.
Chef Tips
- Buy the freshest sea bream you can find. Snapper or branzino work as direct substitutes if bream is unavailable.
- Don’t skip fully dissolving the anchovies in the pan. Undissolved anchovy pieces read as fishy; dissolved they read as savory depth.
- Deseeding the cherry tomatoes isn’t cosmetic. The seeds carry water that would dilute the sauce.
Variations
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes with the garlic for a spicier puttanesca-style sauce.
- Swap the sea bream for cod or hake, trimming the bake time by 5 minutes for thinner fillets.
- Finish with torn basil leaves and a squeeze of lemon at the table for a brighter, summery version.
Ingredients
Directions
Place the fish fillets in a bowl, squeeze over the lemon juice and leave to marinate for 30 mins.
Preheat the oven to 200.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan.
Add the garlic, capers and anchovy fillets and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until anchovies have dissolved.
Add half the wine and simmer until it has evaporated.
Then add the tomatoes, squashing them slightly.
Season and then cook for 10 minutes.
Place the fish in an ovenproof dish and season.
Add the parsley, remaining white wine, sauce, a drizzle of olive oil and the oregano, then cover with foil.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, removing the foil half way through.
Remove from the oven, leave to rest for 1 minute, then serve with some good country bread.
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