Ingredients
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1 whole Snapper
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3 large Yellow Potatoes
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16 oz or 1 bunch Asparagus
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1 Lemon
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4 Shallot
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1 head and 4 cloves Garlic
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1/4 cup Olive oil
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to taste Fresh Rosemary
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to taste Fresh Thyme
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to taste Fresh Parsley
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to taste crushed Red Pepper
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to taste Salt
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to taste Pepper
My Two Cents
This whole roasted red snapper recipe is a quick and yummy dinner idea for the whole family. Cooking whole fish might sound very difficult, but in fact, it is super easy and will wow everyone at the dinner table. So many great conversations can be built around this aromatic and impressive one-pan whole roasted snapper with potatoes and asparagus! You must try it yourself!
I have never been a fan of cooked fish. That is a risky statement for a chef, but it is true. I started this blog with several resolutions, and always being honest is one of them. Another big one is to never post something I do not like, so here we are, being contradictory, ha!
Well, going back to my blogging rules, I promised to never blab too much and keep the recipe as a focus of each post, so here you go, click to DIRECTIONS and skip my little tale about spring in Portugal and whole roasted fish which eyes I remember till the day.
It was a beautiful spring in Porto, Portugal. My family enjoyed our little get-together and celebrated heavily with local food and of course wine! There is nothing better than sitting at a small bistro table on a side of a blooming alley and sipping a glass of ice-cold white wine. Add some roasted olives and cheese and heaven is found!
It was all cheery silly and a little tipsy vacation until we decided to go check out one of the biggest Industrial seaports of Europe and the neighborhood surrounding it. It was scary! The further we strolled away from the touristic center, the doggier everything looked: broken windows, graffiti, cold looks from locals. I knew we stand out too much. Being Russian I am pretty used to that, but even to me, it was worrisome!
So I decided to break the ice and ask one of the local fishermen, who looked like he had been gone in the sea for a decade, for a place to have lunch. He looked at me, very uninterested, and just pointed his finger to a cloud of smoke coming from the end of the street. I did not feel like asking further questions, so we followed the smoke trail and soon enough were hit by an amazing smell. It was coming from 3 big and rusty-looking grills, placed outside of a nice small café. An oasis of joy in the middle of the industrial and loud suburbs of Porto!
We asked for our waiter’s recommendation and got surprised by a whole big fish delivered to our table. It had small pointy teeth and its eyes were starring at me. I was a little nervous to try it, but several glasses of wine did their job. Oh wow, it was the best fish I ever had. We went back to have it several times before we left back to Barcelona, and kept telling all our friends about that magical little place.
Now I know that the best food gems are located away from high-traffic tourist areas. And a whole fish is not a sea monster but rather a delicate and fancy dish!
Directions
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1
Done
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Prepare fishRinse fish with cold water and paper dry it. Make sure that it is clean and gutted. I get my snapper at Harris Teeter and it comes scaled and cleaned, so when you buy yours keep that in mind! Use a sharp knife and make several strikes to cut the skin of the fish, not deep. Stuff the inside of the fish with fresh rosemary and thyme. My snapper was a little bit over a pound and I used 2 strings of rosemary and maybe 10 of thyme. |
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2
Done
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Make sauceFinely chop fresh parsley and mix it with half a teaspoon of salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and 2 cloves of pressed garlic. Add a quarter of a cup of olive oil and mix the sauce well. Slice half of your lemon and place it on each side inside the fish and pour a third of your sauce in the fish as well. |
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3
Done
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Cut vegetablesShallots: peel and chop in 4 pieces, cut the root part off. Potatoes: Cut each potato into 1X1 inch cubes. Asparagus: cut off bottom part leaving around 4 inches total. Season baking sheet with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. This trick will prevent veggies from sticking to the pan. Place in preheated to 400F oven for 5 minutes. |
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4
Done
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Assemble the dishTake the baking pan out of the oven. Be careful, it is hot! Place snapper in the middle. Add another third of the sauce on top of the fish and spread evenly. Season potatoes, shallots, and asparagus with salt & pepper and coat with a little bit of olive oil. Spread around the snapper. I also add a garlic head cut in half. |
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5
Done
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Cook!IMPORTANT: switch your oven to broil on high and place the pan with veggies and snapper on the bottom of the oven. Cook for 15-20 minutes, but keep an eye on it. I f you see it is burning too much, change the setting to low. When the dish is ready, finish red snapper with the rest of the sauce and let it sit for 2-3 minutes absorbing the flavor. Serve in the same pan, accompanied with some salad and chilled white wine. |
