Besugo al Horno – Baked Bream with Potatoes & Tomatoes

Sharing is caring, correct? Well how much do I care to be showing and sharing with you this delightful recipe from my Casa Moro cookbook!

It is called Besugo al Horno aka Baked Bream with Potatoes & Tomatoes

Newsflash: This recipe is SPANISH! Spreading the wings a little this week.

Bream cooked in the oven this way is traditional in Spain for Christmas. I realise it’s not Christmas but what the bloody hell if I have to limit myself from this recipe for only one day of the year! It is easy to make and a treat to it. So get into it!

Serves 4

2 bream (red, golden or baclk), each big enough for 2 (around 500g each), scaled and gutted

4 large firm Cyprus potatoes (about 1kg) sliced into rounds 3mm thick

2 medium red onions, thinly sliced

6 medium sweet tomatoes, sliced in rounds about 5mm hick, or 12-18 small cherry tomatoes, cut in half

2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with salt

2 bay leaves (preferably fresh), halved

A good amount of olive oil

A few parsley stalks (not ones that you’ve overwatered and rotted the roots to like myself)

4 slices of lemon

1/2 fennel bulb, finely chopped OR 1/2 tablespoon fennel seeds (what I did)

Sea salt flakes and black pepper

To serve

1 lemon, quartered

2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 220° C

Season the fish well with salt and pepper inside and out, and lightly salt the potatoes.

Place the onions, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic and bay leaves in a large mixing bowl.

Pour on a good dash of oil, season well with salt and pepper and carefully toss together.

Stuff the parsley stalks, lemon and fennel inside the cavity of each fish.

Cover the bottom of a very large and roomy roasting tray with half the onions, potatoes and tomatoes, and spread out in a single layer.

Now place the bream on top, cover with the rest of the vegetables and drizzle on the remaining olive oil.

Place in the middle of the hot oven and roast for 35 minutes or until the fish is cooked.

Serve with lemon and chopped parsley on top, with a salad.

It should look as good as mine:

What to drink it with? I’m sure the Spanish wouldn’t mind if I poured myself an Italian, so I went for this:

Matteo Correggia Roero Arneis 2009

Pert, but not too racy for the fish. Behind the minerally notes there was a rose-hip, soft quince nose, tasted like a home-made lemon meringue tart, more on the meringue-scope of things though. Really juicy and focused. Still rocking the third night in with Winesave gassed over it.

Buon appetito!

Tags: Food, Recipe