Sea Bass Roasted with Rosemary, Lemon and Sea Salt

Print this recipe ›

About Sea Bass

The delicate flavour and texture of silvery-skinned European sea bass is highly sought after in restaurants and, increasingly, for home cooking. To meet the demand the fish, which is rather like white-fleshed salmon, is now being farmed.

Although some menus promote whole baby sea bass and serve one per person, the fish should be around 1.5kg in order to develop a good flavour, and can be as large as 4.5kg.

Sea bass is at its best treated simply, preferably roast, grilled or barbecued to give the skin a pleasing crackle, but sometimes steamed or poached, especially if it is a large specimen.

Serve roast sea bass with rosemary sauce, or a combination of olive oil, capers, garlic and lemon, mixed with a leaf like rocket or flat leaf parsley, this is classic salsa Verdi (which translates to Green Sauce ) and one of my favourite accompaniments with any fish.

Fresh fish should be eaten on the day of purchase. If it is necessary to cook it the next day, place on a tray, wrap the container in cling film and store overnight in the coldest part of the fridge.

Frozen fish should be kept in the freezer and consumed within three months of purchase.

Ingredients

• Sea Bass Roasted with Rosemary, Lemon and Sea Salt
• 2 sea bass weighing 1 1/ 2 lb each
• Sea salt
• Fresh rosemary
• Olive oil

Method

Slash the sea bass twice or three times on each side diagonally to the bone. Into the slashes and belly cavity put the fresh rosemary — let it all hang out, as it will burn giving an extra flavour to the dish. Put on a roasting tray and rub the fish with olive oil (not your best one) and then sprinkle with sea salt and put into a pre-heated oven at 400F/200C/gas mark 6 and roast uncovered for 15-18 minutes. The flesh should be white, the skin crisp and easily taken off the bone. It can be started on the VIKING char grill and finished in the oven if you like a more grilled flavour. Serve whole, drizzled with a squeeze of lemon and good olive oil.

Today we’re seving this with crispy onion rings, pea puree and crisp roast potatoes, a very ‘posh’ version of ‘fish n chips n mushy peas’!!!