Baked Sea Bass With Mediterranean Antipasti
This is an amazing alternative to simply panfrying sea bass. Light and packed full of flavour, it will make you feel great and best of all there is barely any washing up! These can be made in advance and kept in the fridge. The sea bass is cooked ‘en papillote’ whereby the food is baked in a folded parcel. It’s simple and ready in minutes, this is a winner trust me.
You will need:
Butterflied sea bass fillets (if you cant get these you can just stack 2 on top of each other)
Various antipasti such as artichokes, olives, peppers. If you dislike any of the above just substitute for any antipasti of your choice eg Sundried tomatoes.
Vine Tomatoes
Basil
Lemon
Garlic
Olive oil
Splash of white wine (optional)
Aluminium foil and baking parchment (I couldn't get any parchment so used foil only this time)
METHOD
Open up the butterflied bass and place thinly sliced tomatoes on one side only.
All on the same side, start to layer up sliced artichokes, olives and the peppers. Don't overload it, the bass fillet should close (see photos).
Add thin slithers of garlic, basil leaves and a little drizzle of olive oil onto the same side.
Close the fillet by flipping the empty side on top leaving you with a ‘stuffed’ fillet.
Make a rectangle with the tin foil, fold each side over around 2cm to make the edges more sturdy (see photo). Cut a smaller rectangle of baking parchment and place in the middle.
Put the stuffed seabags fillet into the middle of the parchment. Add a small splash of white wine and some thin lemon slices around the bass. Add a little drizzle of good olive oil.
Using the folded edges of the foil, form a ‘canoe’ shape making sure the bass is nicely sealed in.
Bake at 180c fan for around 10 minutes. Don't overcook!
Take out the oven, unwrap the parcel and serve
I serve with a simple potato salad (baby potatoes, basil, Maldon salt and olive oil) and a some garlic green beans. Enjoy!
