I thought I would make my first food post about a category of food I love so much…Fish! Well, I’m a huge seafood lover but I like to cook fish as much as I can. I try to change things up a bit but I usually have my go-to recipes. One of them is Oven Roasted Branzino a.k.a Branzini.

This is one of my current favorite fish. Seabass (chilean), Salmon, Arctic Char (YUM!) and Branzino are my current favs. You are probably wondering: “What the fuck is a Branzino?!” Well it is known as the Mediterranean or European Seabass. Here is a little article that tells you all about them: https://betterknowafish.com/2013/10/07/branzino-dicentrarchus-labrax/  Don’t worry… we will get to Arctic Char in another post. I have some yummy recipes for that fish too!

So back to my fish, these types of fish are easy to get and prepare, so I eat them often. With the exception of the seabass since the price tag for seabass is crazy expensive for me to have on a regular basis. You can get fresh (never frozen) farmed raised Branzino from Greece at our local Whole Foods (Santa Cruz, CA). You can check with the Whole Foods near you to see if they carry it. They also have fresh (never frozen) Arctic Char from Iceland. I usually don’t like getting farmed raised fish because it tends to be more unhealthy than healthy but apparently Whole Foods is extremely strict in how their fish is farmed, maintained, etc. (Please, if you find out otherwise, I would like to know!)

As you can see in the above pics, I like to prepare my Branzino whole and roast or grill them. I oven roasted them last time and it is a simple, flavorful recipe that I think I must have seen on Pintrest or something. Here it is…

Oven Roasted Branzino

What you need:

1 – 2 Whole Branzino (if you get it at Whole Foods, make sure you have them descale the fish and clean the insides)

2  Lemons (one sliced in rounds the other halved)

1-2 Sprigs of Fresh Oregano or any fresh stemmed herbs

1 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

How to prepare:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper. While oven is preheating, rub the fish with the olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the outside and inside of the fish. Place lemon rounds inside of the fish along with the sprigs of fresh herbs. Place halved lemons cut side up on the baking sheet. These with roast nicely and have a good flavor.

Prepared with lemons, olive oil and fresh herbs

I sliced three cuts in the skin of the fish as to not curl when cooking. Little tip: My boss told me next time do not do that because once the fish is cooked you can actually roll the skin and meat off the bone. I haven’t tried it, but be my guest and post pics!

After the oven is preheated, reduce temperature to 375 F. Place fish in oven about 12-15 minutes. When the skin turns nicely roasted then pull it out. You can sprinkle a little more olive oil on the fish then serve with some veggies. I liked broccolini or sautéed spinach.

The finished branzino! Yum!

There you have it! If you like to prepare fish, feel free to post your pics and recipes in the comment section!

~Q