I love whole roasted fish and, boy, do I love trying various preparation styles and creative sauces that often accompany it in a restaurant. However, sometimes all I crave is simply prepared fish that doesn’t disguise it’s natural flavor. That’s where this recipe comes in. All you need are a few ingredients that you may already have on hand and time (under an hour) to get this dinner on the table. You can even substitute a different fish if you’re not a fan of Branzino, or can’t find it at your local supermarket.
Because I’m not a fan of dead eyes staring back at me from my plate, I asked the fishmonger to remove the head, as well as clean and scale the fish. If the head doesn’t bother you, by all means, leave it on as a full fish makes for an awesome presentation.
Plan for about a pound of fish per serving. You can either roast one whole fish or several smaller ones. This recipe can easily be adapted to the size of your fish, but will generally work well for about 2-4 servings. Since it was only my husband and I for dinner the other night, I used two fish (1 pound each).
Then, all I had to do was add a bit of salt, pepper, a few lemon slices, some fresh thyme, brush everything with olive oil and stick it in the oven for about 35 minutes. Really, that’s all it took to get this healthy and tasty dinner on the table. I can’t guarantee that your kids will eat it (mine never cared for fish) but you’ll love it and maybe the kiddos could enjoy a nice side dish and some veggies instead.
I like to serve the fish with a big bowl of arugula, dressed simply with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and some shaved parmesan. Some oven roasted lemony potatoes would make a great addition to this meal (I’ll try to get a recipe out for that soon). Enjoy!
Whole Oven Roasted Branzino
Ingredients
- 1 4 pound whole Branzino (or individual fish totaling about 4 pounds), washed and dried thoroughly with paper towels
- 2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced (plus additional lemon for serving)
- 8-10 sprigs fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 °F.
- Brush the fish on both sides and inside the cavity with olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper. Please the lemon slices and thyme inside the cavity.
- Transfer the fish to a baking sheet and bake for about 35 minutes or until the flesh is opaque and the skin is crispy.
- Using two large spatulas, transfer the fish to a serving dish. Sprinkle with additional kosher salt (optional). Serve with additional lemon slices.