Baked whole fish (Pesce al Forno)

This delicious Italian recipe for baked whole fish is perfect to serve up as part of an Easter feast. It looks impressive, and is so simple to prepare, you'll be making it year after year.

Baked whole fish (Pesce al Forno)

• serves

  6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

2 large tomatoes

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil

2 green onions (shallots), thinly sliced

2 cups (140 g) fresh breadcrumbs (see tip)

½ cup chopped parsley

¼ cup (40 g) chopped pine nuts

2 kg whole fish, such as jewfish, snapper or barramundi

¼ cup oregano leaves

lemon wedges to serve

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200°C. Finely dice one tomato and slice remaining one, reserving for later. 

Heat half of oil in a frying pan on low. Sauté green onion for 3 minutes, until soft. Add diced tomato, cook for another minute. Remove from heat and stir in breadcrumbs, parsley and pine nuts. Season to taste.

Make three diagonal cuts through thickest part of each side of fish. Fill cavity with breadcrumb mixture and place fish in baking pan. Season well and scatter any leftover breadcrumb mixture over fish. Top with tomato slices and oregano, drizzle with remaining oil. Cover with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes, until just tender. Serve with lemon wedges.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.