canela's kitchen

Whole Roasted Branzino with Lemon Risotto

45 minutes

Growing up, my grandmother used to always say, "Feed a cold, Starve a fever." To this day, I still live by this adage. How I feed a cold is always determined by exactly the type of illness I am afflicted with. Sometimes, I want nothing more than a good Cuban Chicken Soup, or a Carrot Ginger Soup. Other times, I want nothing but a simple green salad. Then there are times like now, when I am so hungry, I want ALL the food. When I ordered groceries today, I kept thinking, "FISH." I remembered Branzino is on sale at Fairway Market Brooklyn, and whipped out my Instacart app to place my order. Roasted in the oven then finished in the broiler... this recipe is so simple and easy, we were eating dinner in less than an hour.

Many people are intimidated by Risotto. You shouldn't be however. Risotto requires lots of patience. Like a curious toddler, you have to actively baby sit this dish.. if you want to simply dump a bunch of things in a pot and walk away, risotto is not for you. But if you want a lesson in mediation and to practice patience, you can, and will make a risotto that will be flavorful, delicious and tender. The trick with risotto is adding liquid a half cup at a time, and stir constantly until most of the liquid is absorbed before adding more. One day, I will have to add my recipe for Champagne Risotto with Black Truffles. It IS simply divine. :) 

Back to THIS recipe! Trust me on this, save yourself time... whether purchasing from a small fish market, a counter in your supermarket or a Fishmonger on the wharf, as them to scale and gut the fish for you. When I was a kid, after fish, we scaled and gut whatever we caught. Its messy, smelly and time consuming. Unless you are on vacation catching your own, don't. If you all really want me to do a tutorial one day on how to scale and gut fish, I will, but there is no reason to have to do this for a weeknight dinner.

I found this recipe on Aveceric.com.

I modified it to fit my own needs, and felt the fish recipe itself required longer cooking time. In fact, my other half felt the idea of heating the oven to 500 F was excessive. I tried it, and still wound up putting it in the broiler.

The spine in the Branzino were easy enough to remove, but as I was eating closer to the tail, there were smaller bones I needed to be careful of. The flesh was tender, juicy and soft enough for my 16 month old grandson to enjoy. He actually almost ate the equivalent of a filet himself! 

If you are interested in trying to prepare a whole fish for the first time, this is the perfect dish to try.

Bon Appetit!

Sinny

Ingredients:

Lemon Risotto

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 large shallot, finely chopped

• 1 ½ cups Arborio rice

• ½ cup dry white wine, (I used Pinot Grigio)

• 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Parmagiano cheese

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Whole Roasted Branzino

• 3 whole branzino, cleaned, gutted, and scales removed
  Fine sea salt
  6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
  2 lemons, thinly sliced
  6 sprigs fresh rosemary
  6 sprigs fresh thyme
  3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for serving
  20 cherry tomatoes
  ¾ cup dry white wine

Directions:

Lemon Risotto

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring, until translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add wine, and using a wooden spoon, stir until absorbed into rice. Add ½ cup chicken stock at a time and stir continuously until mostly absorbed. Continue adding stock until the rice is “al dente” but not crunchy, about 20 minutes. Stir in butter, until completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Stir in lemon juice. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Whole Roasted Branzino

Preheat broiler. Season both sides and the cavity of fish with salt. Arrange the 3 cloves garlic, lemon slices, rosemary, and thyme inside cavity of each whole fish.

In a large roasting pan, add olive oil. Transfer fish to pan. Toss in cherry tomatoes and remaining garlic in pan. Add ½ cup wine. Place pan in broiler  and cook, turning once and adding remaining wine, until skin becomes crispy, about 7 minutes each side.

Transfer fish to serving plate. Arrange roasted tomatoes and lemon slices alongside fish, and drizzle with pan juices.

Serve immediately.