Does This Look Good To You?

I came across this photo in The Washington Post’s Recipe section, and as my wife Alex is a Branzino fan, I knew I had to make this…a “Branzino with roasted Red Pepper and Fennel” recipe: the fish is pan fried and served skin side up over a roasted red pepper puree, and topped with raw sliced fennel with lemon and olive oil – and Kalamata olives scattered about to finish it off…let’s do it!

Let’s begin with the roasted red bell pepper sauce:

I cut the red bell pepper in half, gutted it, and roasted it for 25 minutes in a 450 degree oven>

• 1 lemon
• One (12-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed (see Notes)
• 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more as needed
• 2 teaspoons chopped jarred Calabrian chiles (Where to buy)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon fine salt, divided

Here’s how it all came together:

The sauce is a bit more orange due to the amount of olive oil I used…but I liked the creaminess! Next up, let’s make the fennel slaw and the fish:

• 2 large fennel bulbs
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

• Two (6-ounce) skin-on branzino fillets – a terrific store in NY has them already cleaned like this!

Branzino is the Italian name for European sea bass, a popular saltwater fish known for its mild, slightly sweet flavor, delicate flake, and white, lean meat, often prepared whole with fresh herbs and lemon. Native to the coastal waters of Europe and Northern Africa, it is highly versatile and can be roasted, grilled, or steamed, making it a prized ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine. 

• 1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved

First, the slaw – here’s how it came together:

I separated the stems and fronds from the fennel bulb. Discard the remaining stems and fronds, or save for another use.

I halved the fennel bulb, removed its core, then used a sharp knife to slice the bulb halves thin. In a medium bowl, I tossed the fennel with lemon juice, the lemon zest, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 1/8 teaspoon each of the salt and black pepper. 

Now, let’s make the fish:

I heated some butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, then added the two fillets, skin side down, and cooked until the skin is golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes. I flipped the fish, decrease the heat to medium-low and continued cooking until the fish is no longer translucent and flakes easily under the tines of a fork, 1 to 2 minutes.

I spread about 2 tablespoons of the roasted pepper puree in the center of each plate, then topped each with a piece of fish, skin side up, and about 1/2 cup of the fennel salad.

I really like the look of the dish, and the last thing I did before serving was to scatter some of the kalamata olives around the plate – and added a baked potato with buttery garlic to fill out the plate.

I really enjoyed this dish – the Branzino had great flavor, and was enhanced by the lemony fennel, while the Kalamata olives added a nice pop of briny flavor to each bite…and I thought it presented well on the plate too!

I’m always looking for new ways to make fish at home, like this fun recipe I got from a Seattle Chef::

Chef Tom Douglas credits this catfish recipe to “Mr. Joe!” Click here for the recipe – and to find out who Mr. Joe was!

You can have so much fun with fish – like I did with this recipe that has a very unique title:

This is “fish in crazy water!” What makes it crazy? Click here to find out!

I store all of these recipes on my food website “Bite! Eat! Repeat!” – it’s your site for all things food – if you like what you see, please click on my link and follow this blog as well!

https://biteeatrepeat.com

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Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Fine Dining, Food, Food Writing, Recipes, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food

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