Whole roast sea bass with lemon thyme, tomato and chilli toasts
Sea bass is roasted with potatoes, lemon thyme and white wine in this tasty fish dish, served with tomato and chilli toasts.
Ingredients
For the whole roast sea bass
- 500g/1lb 2oz potatoes, peeled
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 whole sea bass (at least 1kg/2lb 4oz), patted dry and scored on both sides
- 1 bunch lemon thyme, ½ picked and roughly chopped
- 1 lemon, ½ thickly sliced, ½ reserved for juice
- 200ml/7fl oz olive oil
- 150ml/5½oz dry white wine
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the chilli toasts
- ½ baguette (preferably a day old), thickly sliced
- 280g/10oz jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and roughly chopped
- 2 red finger chillies, roughly chopped
To serve
- 1 Baby Gem lettuce, leaves separated
- 1 small bunch rocket leaves
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Put the potatoes and the garlic into a large pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for around 10 minutes, then drain and cut into thick slices. Reserve the garlic cloves.
Season the bass with sea salt and a drizzle of the olive oil. Stuff the cavity of the fish with the half bunch of lemon thyme (not chopped) and a few slices of lemon. Lay the fish on the bed of sliced potatoes in a large roasting tin, and drizzle with more olive oil. Reserve the majority of the oil for the chilli toasts. Pour in the dry white wine and scatter over the roughly chopped lemon thyme leaves. Add the cooked garlic cloves and roast for around 25–30 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.
To make the chilli toasts, drizzle the sliced bread with about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper on a baking tray. Cook in the hot oven for 10 minutes, or until golden-brown.
Mix the sun-dried tomatoes and chillies with enough of the remaining olive oil to make a paste. Spread the chilli paste over the toasts and set aside.
To serve, place the lettuce and rocket leaves into a bowl. Whisk the oil and vinegar in a separate bowl. Dress the leaves before serving. Carefully lift the flesh from the bone of the fish and serve it with the potatoes, green salad, any cooking juices and a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve the toasts on the side.