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How to Cook a Whole Fish
Print Recipe

“How to Cook a Whole Fish”

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 2.5 pound red snapper or other whole fish such as sea bream sea bass or branzino
  • 2 tablespoons slightly softened butter
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary plus extra sprigs for stuffing
  • 1 tablespoon thyme leaves plus extra sprigs for stuffing
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 lemon sliced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons capers chopped
  • 1/4 cup green olives stoned and chopped
  • 1 punch parsley leaves finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Instructions

  • Start by Prepping the Fish. Take a chef’s knife and scrape the scales off by going “against the grain”. This should be done near a sink or outside so you can clean up easily. It’s a lot of scales to remove. Pro tip: You can ask your fish monger to do this for you and save yourself the time and mess at home. But it’s kinda fun to do yourself too.
  • You’ll also want to score the fish with a knife, usually 3 slits is enough. It will prevent the fish from curling up and will allow it to cook evenly.
  • Get some heavy kitchen shears and remove all the fins on both sides.
  • Heat the oven to 400°F.
  • Rinse your fish and stuff the cavity opening with fresh lemon slices.
  • Mix the butter, minced garlic cloves, chopped rosemary and chopped thyme very well. Season well with salt and pepper.
  • Spread the compound butter into the fish cavity.
  • Drizzle the fish with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  • Place the fish in a baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
  • In the meantime, chop the parsley, capers, olives. Add enough olive oil to create a sauce. Serve with the warm fish.