Roasted Sea Bass with Pastis on a Fennel Trivet

So, you love fish, but you don’t love to clean them. Fair enough.  Just say this:  Не могли бы вы чистите рыбу для меня? (Ne mogli by vy chistite rybu dlya menya?)

Here’s the good news:  Russia is a human-resources rich country and I’ll bet you are within a stone’s throw of someone who would be happy to help you out. Just show them the phrase above; which is (trust The Moscovore) a very polite way of saying, “Could you kindly clean the fish for me?”

You could, of course, woman up and just slice the belly, pull the guts out, remove the gills and get on with it, but either way, get yourself some sea bass at Metro or, better still, one of the farmer’s markets and get ready for an elegant and easy meal that looks like you went to tons of trouble.

Padstow, Cornwall

Here’s a show off moment: I learned how to make this at The Padstow Seafood School in Padstow, Cornwall last summer, and they get full credit for the recipe. If you’ve never been to Cornwall, make some plans to go. I had a marvelous time.  When I wasn’t in Seafood School, I went for long long walks along the ocean and up along the cliffs.  Curiously, not once did I run in to Ross Poldark, which still baffles me.

Yum yum...

 I had Cornish pasties for lunch every day, which is only allowed if you have very very very long walks along the cliffs.  It was bliss.

But, back to the sea bass.   Give it a try, ideally…well not ideally actually for sure the day you get the fish.  If you aren’t sure how to say “sea bass” in Russian, you can look it up on The Moscovore’s easily downloadable shopping lists of ingredients.

As an added incentive, anyone who makes this before November 7^th and leaves a comment detailing their experience, will get their name thrown into the hat twice for the inaugural giveaway:  a fabulous set of matriyoshka measuring cups and spoons, which is a must for any Moscovore.

So, Moscovores, roll up your sleeves and let’s get started!

Roasted Sea Bass with Pernod and Fennel

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Serves	4
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	25 minutes
Total time	40 minutes
Meal type	Main Dish

A quick, easy, and tasty way to serve up an elegant sea bass in under 30 minutes.

Ingredients

• Four x (1 lb) 450g Sea bass, scaled and gutted
• (2 Tablespoons) 60ml olive oil
• 1 large fennel bulb (remove the fennel herb and slice into finger-thick rounds)
• (2 Tablespoons) 60ml pastis, such as Pernod or Ricard (both available at Metro)
• 1 large or 2 small lemon (quartered)
• salt and pepper

Directions

1.	Get someone, anyone, to clean the fish. Make sure you scale the skin and then gently score the skin with a very sharp knife. Scoring means you make light horizontal indentations across the skin. See the photo for help.
2.	Preheat the oven to 220C (425 F or Gas Mark 7 -- basically as high as your oven will go) on ROAST. Brush each cleaned sea bass all over and inside with olive oil. Stuff the the fennel herb inside the gut of each fish and sprinkle with a little pastis.
3.	Oil a flat baking sheet or roasting tin with olive oil. Arrange the fennel wheels on the sheet and set the fish on top of them. Drizzle with more oil and the remainder of the pastis.
4.	Roast the fish for 15 minutes in the oven, then serve immediately on a warmed plate. We had Camargue risotto at Seafood School which was a great accompaniment, but new potatoes, quinoa, or just a salad would work equally well. See? Easy peasy.

Serve, and enjoy.