Sea bass with lemon and fresh herbs, cooked in sea salt

Ingredients for 4 servings

• 1 chilled sea bass (about 1–1.2 kg)
• 2–3 sprigs of dill
• 1 sprig of fresh lovage (if you have it)
• ½ lemon
• 1 pinch of black pepper
• 1 kg sea salt
• 1 egg

Method

1. Scale and wash the sea bass well. Season the cavity with pepper and place the dill, lovage and sliced lemon inside.
2. Put the salt in a bowl and mix it with the egg until it binds.
3. Cover the bottom of a tray, lined with baking paper, with a layer of salt about 1 cm thick.
4. Place the fish on the salt and carefully cover it with the remaining salt.
5. Leave the eyes and the front of the head uncovered, and bake in a preheated oven without the fan at 200 °C for about 30–35 minutes.
6. The eyes should turn white — that is the sign the fish is properly cooked.
7. After taking it out of the oven, crack the salt crust with a small mallet or the handle of a knife and carefully lift the fish out.

Tips

• When covering the fish with salt, close the belly well so it steams and the herbs flavour the flesh.
• Break the crust carefully so salt does not fall onto the flesh on the plate.
• Serve with a warm potato salad or freshly roasted vegetables.
• The same recipe works for gilthead seabream or another larger fish.

From the catalog

Sea bassView productGilthead seabreamView product