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Whole roasted sea bass with romesco sauce and potatoes

A rich, smoked romesco sauce goes perfectly with the fish and deep-fried crispy potatoes.

Preparation time
less than 30 mins

Cooking time
1 to 2 hours

Serves
Serves 4


By Matt Tebbutt
From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the romesco sauce

  • 2 red peppers
  • 3 tomatoes
  • 1 red chilli
  • 100g/3½oz skinned almonds
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 4–6 tbsp olive oil
  • 30ml–50ml/1fl oz–2fl oz sherry vinegar

For the roasted sea bass

  • ½ fennel bulb, sliced
  • ½ onion, sliced
  • 460g//1lb roasted peppers, cut into pieces
  • 1 large whole wild sea bass (about 900–1kg/2lb–2lb 4oz)
  • 20 cherry tomatoes
  • 300ml/10fl oz white wine
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tbsp breadcrumbs, toasted
  • bunch fresh basil

For the potatoes

  • 300g/10½oz small ratte or red-skinned new potatoes
  • pinch salt
  • 20ml/¾fl oz sherry vinegar

Method

  1. To make the romesco sauce, preheat the oven to 240C/220C Fan/Gas 9.

  2. Put the red peppers, tomatoes, red chilli and almonds in a roasting tray and toss together. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove the garlic and almonds. Cook for a further 40 minutes until blistered.

  3. Remove the tray from the oven (leaving it on for the sea bass) and, once cool enough to handle, skin the peppers, chilli and tomatoes. Transfer all the roasted ingredients to a blender and blend to a paste with the smoked paprika and olive oil. Taste and season with sherry vinegar. Set aside.

  4. To make the roasted sea bass, scatter the fennel, onion and peppers in a deep roasting dish, then lay the fish on top. Scatter the tomatoes around and pour over the wine and olive oil. Cook for 25 minutes.

  5. Meanwhile, to make the potatoes, bring a pan of salted water to the boil, then add the baby potatoes and cook until just soft, about 15–20 minutes.

  6. Drain the potatoes and allow to cool, then break by hand to roughen the edges.

  7. Preheat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 180C. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.) Deep-fry the potatoes for 5–6 minutes until crisp. Once cooked, toss in salt and sherry vinegar.

  8. To finish the sea bass, mix the garlic with the toasted breadcrumbs. Once the fish is cooked, remove from the oven and sprinkle with the garlic breadcrumbs.

  9. Serve the seabass on a large platter with all the roasted vegetables and scattering of whole basil leaves. Put the crispy potatoes in a separate bowl. You can drizzle the romesco sauce on top or spread over the base of the potato dish.

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