Sea bass baked in foil Ligurian Style is a very simple Italian fish recipe, full of Mediterranean taste and aromas, made with potatoes, cherry tomatoes and olives.
Rich in flavors but light and low in calories. The foil cooking method, in fact, allows you to use very few condiments. Flavors remain intense and food properties remain unchanged.
Ligurian-Style, or “Alla Ligure” in Italian, is a very traditional way of dressing many dishes with Taggiasca olives and cherry tomatoes. Sometimes there is the addition of a few pine nuts or a few tablespoons of Pesto, depending on the recipe.
Liguria – a strip of land on the north-western coast of Italy, bordering Tuscany to the south and France to the north – completely overlooking the sea, has a very mild climate.
Most Ligurian recipes have a distinctive Mediterranean flavor, and this sea bass preparation is no exception. It’s a very simple recipe that is completely based on the freshness and quality of the ingredients.
Sea bass is a particularly prized fish, with tender and tasty meats that are perfect for cooking in many ways. Above all in the oven, with seasonal vegetables.
Sea bass baked in foil does not take long to make and the result is exceptional and of great effect! In fact, baking in foil is not only easy and takes little time, but it’s a very cheerful and convivial way of presenting dishes.
See other delicious Italian Fish Recipes:
How to Make Sea Bass Baked in Foil Ligurian-Style
- Prep Time:15 Min
- Cook Time:40 Min
- Yields :4
Ingredients
- 2 medium sea bass (about 450 g/ 1 lb each ) cleaned and left whole
- 100 g (3,5 oz) of cherry tomatoes or cherub tomatoes
- 2 medium potatoes
- 20 Taggiasca pitted olives
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
- fine salt to taste
- 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. We reccomend Italian extra virgin olive oil made from Ligurian Taggiasca olives
- 1 small onion
- 4 sprigs of rosemary
Kitchen Tools and Equipment
You definitely need a baking dish to cook the fish. So we recommend the middle size of this lovely baking dish set, a ceramic hand- painted casserole dish.
For the foil, we don’t use aluminum foil but we raccomend simple baking paper, which is healthier with cooked food. So get a couple of rather large sheets of parchment baking paper TCF (totally chlorine-free).
Finally, to close the parchment paper you need these silicone cooking bands.
Sea Bass Baked in Foil Recipe
To prepare Sea Bass baked in foil, let’s start with the protagonist: the sea bass. Buy 2 medium whole and already cleaned sea bass.
If they still need to be cleaned, here’s how you need to do it. First clean them from the entrails. Then remove the fins and scrape the skin with the help of a sharp kitchen knife, Finally rinse them under cold running water to clean and remove the excess scales. Now let’s start to make sea bass baked in foil recipe
Step 1) – Peel and blanch the potatoes in salted water for about five minutes. Then cut them into slices.
Step 2) – Cut cherry tomatoes in half, then cut the onion into thin slices. Set aside.
Step 3) – Take a baking dish and line it with two rather large sheets of parchment paper, one placed vertically and one horizontally. Pour a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil on the bottom. Now make a layer with the potato slices and two sprigs of rosemary. This is “the bed” for the sea bass. So arrange the sea bass on top of the potato layer.
Step 4) – Put a clove of garlic inside each fish. Add the tomatoes, onion slices, olives and two other sprigs of rosemary on top. Add a little salt but not much, the olives are in fact very tasty. Finally add three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Step 5) – Close the sea bass in the parchment paper with the help of your hands and seal it with a silicone cooking band.
Step 6) – Place the baking dish in the pre-heaten oven and cook for about 40 minutes at 180°C (350 F). Serve the sea bass baked in foil, cleaned and portioned, with cherry tomatoes, potatoes and olives.
Storage
You shoul eat Ligurian Sea Bass baked in foil as soon as it’s ready. However, if you have some leftovers, you can keep them in the refrigerator, for a maximum of one day, closed in an airtight container.
Leave them at room temperature for at least half an hour before bringing them to the table. Avoid heating, as its delicate flavor could change.
We do not recommend freezing.
Sea Bass Baked in Foil Recipe: Some Tips
If you prefer, you can choose small single-portion sea bass or buy already cleaned sea bass fillets, and make a foil for each diner.
To make your sea bass even tastier, add half a glass of white wine before closing the parchment paper.
Sea bass baked in foil is an excellent dish accompanied by a nice Ligurian white wine such as Vermentino or Pigato.
Taggiasca Olives, an Italian Excellence
Taggiasca olives, typical of Western Liguria and in particular of the Province of Imperia, are so called because they arrived in Taggia, brought there by the monks of San Colombano, coming from the monastery island of Lerino.
Thanks to the perfect combination of soil, water and climate of western Liguria, Taggiasca olives have a particular flavor that makes they unique. They are one of the most renowned and appreciated varieties in the world.
How to Recognize Taggiasca Olives.
Taggiasca olive has a medium-small size, an elongated oval shape and a smooth surface. The pulp is consistent and remains firm over time.
Taggiasca olive is also unique for its colors: it tends to be dark, with shades ranging from green to purple, up to an intense brown. This feature makes it recognizable even when it’s close to other olives.
Taggiasca olive is particularly suitable for preserving in oil or brine.
It’s also one of the most renowned for the production of Italian extra virgin olive oil. The oil from this fruit is a high quality product, yellow-green in color, with a sweet and pleasantly fruity aroma, with hints of almond.
These characteristics make Taggiasca extra virgin olive oil truly unique, so much so that in 1997 the Protected Designation of Origin was established, linked to the production of an extra virgin oil called DOP Riviera Ligure.
