Baked Bream with Salsa Verde

I love sea bream and I think it's much underrated.  It is a fantastic white fish with a lot of the flavour of seabass but with much thicker fillets.

I have to admit I normally serve it with a squeeze of lemon juice, a grinding of sea salt and not much else.  It is nice filleted but on the bone is best.  Fish cooked whole always tastes better in my opinion.

You can, if you like add some anchovies to the salsa verde or use it as a dressing for barbecued or grilled meats or vegetables and if serving with vegetables, this could be a lovely vegan dip packed with flavour.  There is something so deliciously spring like about the splash of green on the plate.

Baked Bream with Salsa Verde - Serves 1

Ingredients

1 whole sea bream

For the salsa verde
1/2 clove garlic
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1 tbsp fresh basil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp capers
2 tsp cider vinegar
1.5 tbsp oil
Black pepper, to taste

Method

Wrap the bream in foil or baking paper and bake at 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6 for approx 20 minutes or until just cooked through and the flesh is opaque (it will depend on the size of your bream).

To make the salsa verde, finely chop all of the solid ingredients and herbs and mix with the mustard and vinegar.  Add in enough oil to make a loose texture somewhere between a dip and a dressing and add pepper to taste.

Take the skin off one side of the bream and serve, drizzled with the salsa verde.  This might not look like restaurant food but the flavours are all there.

I've linked this up to Lavender and Lovage monthly challenge