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sea bass with salsa primavera

By Mitch Tonks

I love cooking whole sea bass – it’s that juicy flesh and thin skin that crisps up so nicely. The fish goes really well with this salsa, which is neither a sauce nor a salad, just a glorious mix of punchy spring flavours. If the weather treats us kindly, cooking the fish on a barbecue adds another dimension

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients

About 30g frozen peas
About 30g frozen broad beans
1 bunch salad onions, thinly sliced diagonally
50g mangetout, thinly sliced diagonally
½ cucumber, peeled, deseeded and thinly sliced
½ green pepper, finely chopped
1 tbsp nonpareille capers, finely chopped
1 gherkin, chopped
A few green olives, finely sliced
8 wedges chargrilled artichokes in oil
1 tbsp chopped mixed herbs (such as tarragon, mint, parsley and chives)
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ lemon
2 tsp white wine vinegar
2 whole sea bass, scaled and gutted

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the peas and broad beans and cook for 1-3 minutes, until tender. Drain, then refresh in cold water. Peel away the skins of the broad beans, if liked.

2. Make the salsa in a bowl by loosely mixing the peas and broad beans with the salad onions, mangetout, cucumber, pepper, capers, gherkin, olives, artichokes, herbs and 5 tbsp olive oil. Balance the flavour with salt, a squeeze of lemon juice and the white wine vinegar; set aside.

3. On a baking tray, brush the sea bass with the remaining 1 tbsp oil, then sprinkle with a little salt. Roast the fish for 18-22 minutes, until it is cooked through, opaque and flakes easily. Spoon the salsa onto plates and serve the fish on top. Cut the remaining lemon into wedges for squeezing over, if liked.