Pesce all'acqua pazza — whole sea bass with cherry tomatoes, garlic and white wine
The fish of Neapolitan fishermen: whole sea bass cooked under a lid in acqua pazza, or 'crazy water', with burst cherry tomatoes, garlic, peperoncino and white wine, served with garlic-rubbed toast to soak up the broth.
Ingredients for two
| 850 g | Whole sea bass (lavrak), gutted and scaled 2 sea bass (lavrak), 400–450 g each, gutted and scaled by the fishmonger, or 2 sea bream |
| 300 g | Cherry tomatoes about 20, halved |
| 20 g | Garlic 4 cloves: 3 thinly sliced and 1 for rubbing the toast |
| 20 g | Flat-leaf parsley a large handful: stalks for the broth and chopped leaves to finish |
| 1 g | Chilli flakes (peperoncino) a generous pinch, or 1 small dried chilli, crumbled |
| 100 g | Kosher dry white wine half a glass (100 ml) |
| 400 g | Water hot (400 ml) |
| 50 g | Extra virgin olive oil 5 tbsp: 3 for cooking, 1 to finish and 1 for the toast |
| 40 g | Black olives in brine (Kalamata, Gaeta or Israeli) about 10 Gaeta olives (optional) |
| 160 g | Bread (baguette or country loaf) 2 thick slices of country bread, 80 g each, or 4 smaller slices |
| 7 g | Fine salt 1 heaped tsp: 4 g for the fish and 3 g for the broth |
| 1 g | Black peppercorns a few turns of the pepper mill to serve, if liked (optional) |
Method
- Thinly slice 3 garlic cloves, halve the cherry tomatoes and chop the parsley leaves, reserving the stalks. Pat the sea bass dry inside and out with kitchen paper. Season the cavities and sides with 4 g salt, and put a few parsley stalks and a slice of garlic inside each fish.
- Heat 30 g oil over a medium-high heat in a 32 cm sauté pan with a lid. Both fish must fit flat, head to tail; otherwise, ask the fishmonger to remove the heads. Add the tomatoes cut-side down and leave undisturbed for 3–4 minutes until softened, with wrinkled skins and lightly caramelised bases. Reduce the heat to medium, add the sliced garlic and chilli to the oil between the tomatoes and cook gently for 1 minute: the garlic should barely colour, without browning. Crush a few tomatoes with a spoon.
- Pour in the white wine and cook over a high heat for 1 minute, until the smell of alcohol disappears. Add the hot water, 3 g salt and remaining parsley stalks, bring to a simmer and taste. The broth should be distinctly salty, like mild seawater; add a pinch of salt if needed. This pale red, fragrant broth is the acqua pazza.
- Lay the fish in the broth. It should be a good centimetre deep, touching their bellies without covering them; the lid, steam and two rounds of basting will cook the upper flesh. If only a little liquid remains halfway through, add 50 g hot water. Add the olives, cover and cook over a medium-low heat for 12–14 minutes without turning, basting twice with a spoon. The fish is cooked when the eye is white and the flesh along the backbone is opaque and comes away when pressed with the back of a fork.
- Meanwhile, toast the bread in a toaster or a dry frying pan over a medium-high heat for 1–2 minutes per side, until well coloured. While still hot, rub with the remaining garlic clove, cut in half, and drizzle with 10 g oil.
- Turn off the heat and rest, covered, for 3 minutes. Remove the parsley stalks, scatter over the chopped parsley and drizzle with 10 g olive oil, adding a few turns of black pepper if you like. Serve in deep plates, lifting each delicate fish with a wide spatula. Add the tomatoes and olives, ladle over some broth and serve the toast alongside for soaking it up.
Fish-free
- Whole sea bass (lavrak), gutted and scaled → Boneless skinless chicken thighs (pargiyot) 400 g (4 boneless thighs, 100 g each)
- add Extra virgin olive oil 10 g (1 tbsp, for browning the chicken)
- add Fine salt 2 g (for seasoning the chicken)
- add Water 100 g (hot, to replace the share of broth transferred to the chicken)
- Before step 2, season the chicken thighs with 2 g salt. Heat 10 g oil in a small sauté pan or lidded frying pan, 24 cm for four thighs or 20 cm for two. Brown in a single layer over a high heat, smooth-side down (where the skin was), for 3 minutes without moving, then for 1 minute on the other side. Turn off the heat and leave in the pan.
- In step 3, add an extra 100 g hot water with the water, to allow for the chicken's share. Once the broth is simmering and seasoned, before adding the fish, transfer one-third of it with a few tomatoes, garlic slices and half the olives to the chicken pan: fish and meat must never share a pan. Cover and cook over a medium-low heat for 18 minutes, turning once, until the flesh is white throughout when cut open and the juices run clear. Add the fish to its pan 5 minutes after the chicken starts cooking so both finish together. During those 5 minutes, keep the fish pan covered over a low heat so the broth does not reduce.
- Finish the chicken in the same way as the fish: rest covered for 3 minutes, add chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil, and serve with the same garlic toast.
Pollo all'acqua pazza is a familiar Italian adaptation rather than a fishermen's tradition, but stands well on its own: tomatoes, garlic, white wine and broth provide the flavour. Quantities serve two; for one fish-free plate, use two chicken thighs.
Lighter version
- Extra virgin olive oil : 30 g
- Bread (baguette or country loaf) : 120 g
Cook with 20 g oil, omit the oil on the bread and drizzle with 10 g oil before serving. Allow one 60 g slice of bread per person.
Two fewer tablespoons of oil and less bread; the broth does the rest.
On your plate
Recipe
1065 kcal · protein 101 g · carbs 53 g · fat 49 g
Quantities per person
- 425 g Whole sea bass (lavrak), gutted and scaled
- 150 g Cherry tomatoes
- 10 g Garlic
- 10 g Flat-leaf parsley
- 0.5 g Chilli flakes (peperoncino)
- 50 g Kosher dry white wine
- 200 g Water
- 25 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 20 g Black olives in brine (Kalamata, Gaeta or Israeli)
- 80 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
- 3.5 g Fine salt
- 0.5 g Black peppercorns
Fish-free version
815 kcal · protein 49 g · carbs 53 g · fat 44 g
Quantities per person
- 150 g Cherry tomatoes
- 10 g Garlic
- 10 g Flat-leaf parsley
- 0.5 g Chilli flakes (peperoncino)
- 50 g Kosher dry white wine
- 250 g Water
- 30 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 20 g Black olives in brine (Kalamata, Gaeta or Israeli)
- 80 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
- 4.5 g Fine salt
- 0.5 g Black peppercorns
- 200 g Boneless skinless chicken thighs (pargiyot)
Cooking tips
The pan must be large enough to hold both fish flat; otherwise, ask the fishmonger to remove the heads. A single 900 g sea bass, requiring 18–20 minutes of cooking, will fit only in an oval casserole or a baking dish covered with foil, not a round sauté pan. Two 250 g fish steaks need just 8–10 minutes. Use leftover broth for linguine the next day: reheat and finish cooking 200 g almost-cooked linguine in it for 2 minutes. For more punch, add 1 tbsp rinsed capers with the olives. Nutrition is calculated using the whole fish weight, including heads and bones; allow about 20% less on the plate.
The Gulf of Naples and the island of Ponza: fish that fishermen cooked in seawater with tomatoes and garlic on board, all'acqua pazza.
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