Orata alla griglia — grilled sea bream with salmoriglio and roast potatoes

Name: Orata alla griglia — grilled sea bream with salmoriglio and roast potatoes
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 850 g Whole gilthead sea bream (denis), gutted and scaled (2 sea bream, 400–450 g and 28–30 cm each, gutted and scaled by the fishmonger; ask for two slashes on each side); 500 g Potatoes (3–4 medium potatoes, cut into 2.5 cm wedges); 80 g Extra virgin olive oil (8 tbsp: 2 for the potatoes, 1 for the fish and 5 for the salmoriglio); 120 g Lemon (1 lemon: juice of one half (25–30 g) for the salmoriglio; cut 2 slices from the other half for the fish cavities and serve the rest in wedges); 10 g Garlic (2 cloves: 1 crushed in a garlic press for the sauce, 1 crushed for the fish cavities); 2 g Dried oregano (2 tsp, preferably Sicilian or Greek); 10 g Flat-leaf parsley (a handful: finely chopped leaves for the sauce and stalks for the fish cavities); 5 g Fresh rosemary (1 whole sprig, for the potatoes); 15 g Water (1 tbsp hot water, to emulsify the salmoriglio); 8 g Fine salt (1 1/2 level tsp: 4 g for the fish, 3 g for the potatoes and 1 g for the sauce); 1 g Ground black pepper (1/2 tsp)

pareve fish Italian · easy · 45 min, including 30 hands-on

Whole sea bream with crisp skin, cooked on a cast-iron griddle or under the oven grill and dressed with Sicilian salmoriglio: olive oil, lemon, garlic, oregano and parsley. Served with rosemary roast potatoes.

Ingredients for two

850 g	Whole gilthead sea bream (denis), gutted and scaled 2 sea bream, 400–450 g and 28–30 cm each, gutted and scaled by the fishmonger; ask for two slashes on each side
500 g	Potatoes 3–4 medium potatoes, cut into 2.5 cm wedges
80 g	Extra virgin olive oil 8 tbsp: 2 for the potatoes, 1 for the fish and 5 for the salmoriglio
120 g	Lemon 1 lemon: juice of one half (25–30 g) for the salmoriglio; cut 2 slices from the other half for the fish cavities and serve the rest in wedges
10 g	Garlic 2 cloves: 1 crushed in a garlic press for the sauce, 1 crushed for the fish cavities
2 g	Dried oregano 2 tsp, preferably Sicilian or Greek
10 g	Flat-leaf parsley a handful: finely chopped leaves for the sauce and stalks for the fish cavities
5 g	Fresh rosemary 1 whole sprig, for the potatoes
15 g	Water 1 tbsp hot water, to emulsify the salmoriglio
8 g	Fine salt 1 1/2 level tsp: 4 g for the fish, 3 g for the potatoes and 1 g for the sauce
1 g	Ground black pepper 1/2 tsp

Method

Turn the oven on to 220°C. Wash the potatoes without peeling, cut into 2.5 cm wedges and dry in a tea towel. Toss on a baking tray with 20 g oil and 3 g salt, and lay the whole rosemary sprig in the middle. Put the tray in before the oven has fully heated and cook for 35 minutes: the wedges start gently and finish at 220°C. Halfway through, turn the potatoes, strip the roasted rosemary leaves over them, which will fall off easily, and discard the stem. Loose leaves added at the start would blacken and turn bitter. The potatoes are ready when golden and crisp outside and tender when pierced with a knife.
Make the salmoriglio: whisk 50 g oil with the juice of half a lemon (25–30 g), 1 crushed garlic clove, oregano rubbed between your fingers, chopped parsley, 1 g salt, pepper and the spoonful of hot water. Whisk until thickened, cloudy and creamy. Two parts oil to one part lemon is the Messina ratio. Taste: it should be distinctly lemony but rounded. Leave to infuse while the potatoes cook.
When the potatoes have 15 minutes left, heat a rectangular cast-iron griddle across two burners over a high heat for 5 minutes: a drop of water should dance and evaporate immediately. Without a griddle, use the oven-grill method in step 4. Meanwhile, take the sea bream from the fridge and dry thoroughly inside and out with kitchen paper: wet fish sticks and its skin will not crisp. Season with 4 g salt inside, on the sides and in the slashes. Put parsley stalks, half a crushed garlic clove and a lemon slice from the half reserved for serving into each cavity. Just before grilling, pat the skin dry again, as the salt will have drawn out moisture, and brush with 10 g oil.
Lay the sea bream lengthways on the griddle, head to tail, without touching; each fish needs 30 cm of space. Leave undisturbed over a medium-high heat for 5–6 minutes until the skin is marked, golden and releases easily. Turn each fish in one movement using two spatulas, then grill the other side for 5–6 minutes: allow 11 minutes overall for a 400 g fish, or 12–13 minutes for 450–500 g. The fish is cooked when its eye is white and the flesh along the backbone is opaque and comes away when pressed with the back of a fork. The oven grill works just as well: when the potatoes have 15 minutes left, move their tray to the bottom shelf and switch to the grill, with the door closed, for 5 minutes until the element glows red. Prepare the fish as in step 3 meanwhile. Place on a second oiled tray, or an oven rack lined with oiled foil, 10 cm below the element. Grill for 6 minutes per side, turning in one movement with two spatulas, and check the same signs of doneness. The potatoes finish below and stay hot and crisp. Never cook the fish in two batches, or the first will go cold.
Transfer the sea bream to plates and rest for 2 minutes. Open each fish along the back with a fork and spoon 2 tbsp salmoriglio directly over the flesh; on the skin, the sauce would not flavour it. Serve the rest in a bowl for dipping, with the potatoes alongside and wedges from the remaining lemon half on the table.

Fish-free

Whole gilthead sea bream (denis), gutted and scaled → Boneless skinless chicken thighs (pargiyot) 400 g (4 boneless chicken thighs (pargiyot), about 100 g each; serves two, or use 2 pieces for one fish-free plate)
add Fine salt 4 g (1 g per chicken thigh; quantity for two)

As soon as the salmoriglio is ready in step 2, transfer one-third to a deep dish before it has touched any fish. Season the chicken thighs with 1 g salt per piece and turn in the sauce. Leave to marinate at room temperature for about 20 minutes while the potatoes cook.
In step 3, heat a second 24 cm cast-iron or non-stick frying pan over a high heat alongside the griddle. In step 4, drain the chicken thighs and grill in this separate pan, smooth-side down first, over a medium-high heat for 5–6 minutes per side. Do not move them until well marked. Turn with tongs reserved for meat; keep the spatulas for the fish. Fish and meat must never share a griddle. The chicken is ready when firm and springy to the touch, with clear juices when pierced at the thickest part. Rest for 3 minutes.
Serve with the same potatoes and 2 tbsp fresh salmoriglio from the bowl, never the marinade that has touched raw chicken.

Chicken marinated in salmoriglio is also a Sicilian classic: the sauce doubles as the marinade. Thighs stand up well to grilling and stay juicy, whereas breast meat can dry out at the edges. Quantities serve two; for one fish-free plate, use 2 pieces.

Lighter version

Extra virgin olive oil : 55 g
Potatoes : 350 g

Cook the potatoes on baking parchment with 10 g oil, make the salmoriglio with 40 g oil and the same half lemon, and brush the fish with 5 g oil. The sauce stays rounded, just a little sharper.

One tablespoon of oil for the potatoes, four for the salmoriglio and fewer potatoes: the same fish and sauce.

On your plate

Recipe

1141 kcal · protein 95 g · carbs 43 g · fat 63 g

Quantities per person

425 g Whole gilthead sea bream (denis), gutted and scaled
250 g Potatoes
40 g Extra virgin olive oil
60 g Lemon
5 g Garlic
1 g Dried oregano
5 g Flat-leaf parsley
2.5 g Fresh rosemary
7.5 g Water
4 g Fine salt
0.5 g Ground black pepper

Fish-free version

825 kcal · protein 46 g · carbs 43 g · fat 49 g

Quantities per person

250 g Potatoes
40 g Extra virgin olive oil
60 g Lemon
5 g Garlic
1 g Dried oregano
5 g Flat-leaf parsley
2.5 g Fresh rosemary
7.5 g Water
6 g Fine salt
0.5 g Ground black pepper
200 g Boneless skinless chicken thighs (pargiyot)

Cooking tips

Switch on the oven as soon as you get home, before unpacking the fish. The secret is thoroughly dry fish and a very hot griddle; leave it alone until it releases easily. If the pan holds only one fish, cook both under the oven grill, never in two batches, or the first will go cold. A 450 g sea bass (lavrak) cooks in the same way. Salmoriglio can be made the day before and improves as it stands; use it on grilled vegetables, chicken or bread. Leftover cold potatoes make a good lunch salad the next day, dressed with the remaining salmoriglio and some capers. The displayed nutrition is calculated from 850 g whole fish, of which only about half is flesh, the rest being head, bones and skin. In practice, allow around 820 kcal and 45 g protein per person.

Equipment : rectangular cast-iron griddle (bistecchiera), at least 38 × 25 cm, spanning two burners to hold both fish flat, head to tail; alternatively, use the oven grill as in step 4; a round 28 cm griddle holds only one fish, baking tray for the potatoes, second baking tray or foil for the oven-grill method, two spatulas, garlic press, small whisk, second 24 cm frying pan, tongs and a deep dish for the variation

Sicily and the Tyrrhenian coast: whole grilled fish with salmoriglio (salmurigghiu), Messina's sauce for grilled food, made with two parts oil to one part lemon.