I was visiting my parents, and their local French supermarket of course, has incredible fresh fish. So we got some, with the idea to just pop the fish in the oven with some potatoes and have a simple dinner. Before I started this quick dinner, I decided to check a proper recipe quickly, and I am so glad I did. This turned out so much better than just fish with potatoes. I never intended to write this recipe down, because it is just changes to the below Bon Appetite recipe, and I made it up as I went a long, however I do not want to forget what I did. Also, to whoever wrote the Bon Appetite recipe, it's unfortunately in a weird sequence, and difficult to use. With all of that in mind, I wanted to create an easier to read version, however the below recipe is more of a guideline, than a 'real recipe'.
Ingredients:
Enough new potatoes to cover the outskirts of your baking dish
A Royal Dorado per person (you can use whatever whole fish you want)
3 Handfuls of Cherry tomatoes
Pine nuts
Lots of flaky Salt, and olive oil
Garlic
Mint (4 stems?)
Non-pitted black Kalamata Olives
3 Bay leaves
2 Tablespoons Sherry
1 Large Lemon
A splash or two of white wine (let's be honest, whatever you have in the fridge)
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180 Celsius.
Roast pine nuts in baking dish for 4 minutes (until they smell toasty). Remove from dish and set aside in a large bowl.
Cover the cherry tomatoes in olive oil and salt and roast in the same oven dish for 20 minutes.
While the cherry tomatoes are roasting, boil the potatoes for 10 minutes in boiling water.
When the cherry tomatoes are done, scoop into the bowl with the pine nuts.
Increase oven temperature to 220 Celsius.
Cover the same oven dish with olive oil. Place the (now par-boiled) new potatoes on the outskirts on the tray, line the middle with slices of half the lemon. Throughout the oven dish also add salt, mint, sliced garlic, bay leaves and olives.
Put a lemon wedge in the middle of each fish (use the other half of the lemon that is still left over). Cover each side of the fish with a little olive oil, and place in the middle of the dish (where the lemons mostly are).
Add some wine (about 1 cup/2 splashes/ who measure wine out anyway?) to the baking tray.
Place into oven for 15 minutes.
While the fish is in the oven, add 2 tablespoons of sherry to the bowl with the cherry tomatoes and pine nuts. Mix to form a very loose paste.
After 15 minutes, scoop the cherry tomato mixture on top of the fish. Cook for another 5 minutes.
Turn oven off, and let the fish sit inside the closed off oven for 10 minutes. In this time feel free to scramble together the place settings for the table.
Serve.
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