Sea bass with almonds
This sea bass with almonds is a different yet delicious way to enjoy baked fish.
Many years ago I was looking for a nice recipe for Christmas Eve‘s dinner and I stumbled upon this sea bass with almonds recipe on a magazine. I tried it immediately and it was love at first sight.
Since it’s so simple, light and delicious, it’s the perfect recipe when you have guests. The only difficult part in this recipe is to fillet the fish, however if you have a trusted fishmonger, he will certainly do it for you. The rest will only take a few minutes and very few ingredients.
The real show-stopper for everyone who enjoy eating fish, and for those who don’t… it’ll be!
Sea bass with almonds: health facts
Fish is very healthy but this recipe brings its nutrients to a whole different level. Since the filling is made out of almonds you’ll get the omega-3s from the fish and the other good fats (PUFAs – polyunsaturated fatty acids). Almonds also contains a lot of fibers (use almonds with skin on to get even more).
This recipe is a boost for your cardiovascular system along with your gut microbiome. You can substitute butter for oil, but this won’t actually make a big difference, since you’re only gonna be using 30gr. of butter and the recipe will serve 4.
How to buy fish
Buying fish for many people may be a challenge. However you can use a few simple tricks to buy the best fresh fish.
- Smell: fresh fish should always have a nice fresh and delicate sea smell. Should not smell like chlorine or any chemicals or have a strong fish smell. When the smell is too strong, chances are the fish has been sitting on the shelf way too long. And if you can smell chlorine or some kind of chemical it means it has been washes or treated somehow to keep longer.
- Texture: the flesh of the fish should be firm. Even if you won’t be able to touch it you can see from the outside when the fish is too soft. You’ll be able to see the marks left from the hands of who handled it.
- Keep an eye on the eye (pun intended!): If you the eye of the fish looks dull, almost retracted. Somewhat dry. These are all signs that the fish is not fresh. The eyes of the fish should be very glossy, plump and vivid.
Another thing you need to keep in mind when buying fish is its provenance. Farmed fish can be of very poor quality. Some fishing farms use antibiotics, bad feed and whatnot to grow your fish as fast as they can. Try to buy from sustainable fish farms or buy frozen fish.
Frozen fish is usually higher in quality since it’s frozen directly on the boat after being caught. Some glaze it to ensure quality. The glaze is discarded when thawed out so you’ll only be left with a super fresh fish.
Sea bass with almond: substitutions and suggestions
Sea bass is very common in the Mediterranean. Actually fishing farms in Europe mainly grow sea bass and sea bream, so it’s very easy to find it pretty much everywhere. You can then substitute sea bass for sea bream or any other delicate white flash fish like grouper.
Do not have almonds on hand? you can try with cashews or walnuts. The taste will be slightly different but still very very good.
Got some leftovers? Turn your leftovers into a nice fish spread. Put the leftovers in a food processor, add a pinch of salt and a some sour cream, a pinch of pepper and mix until creamy. You can also add a boiled potato to it or some olive oil. To make this spread even tastier you can add some olives and capers.
Sea bass with almonds: festive meal ideas
If you want to use this recipe for a festive meal, you could pair it with spaghetti with mussels or maybe a pasta with mullet sauce. Simmered squid could be served with crostini for a small appetizer, and as a side you could serve stir-fried artichokes or one of my simple vegetable side dishes.
The dessert could be a lemon jam and meringue tart.
Sea bass with almonds
Ingredients
- 2 sea-bass or 4 fillet 1 fillet per person
- 90 gr almond meal
- 30 gr butter room temp.
- 3 slices of bread soaked in water
- parsley
- 1/2 glass of white wine
- extra virgin olive oil salt, pepper and a garlic clove
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 190° (400F) Fillet the fish, or ask your fishmonger to do that, you also need to remove the scales from the fish skin, wash it and pat it dry.
- In a food processor, or in a bowl, mix together the almond meal, the butter and parsley, season with salt and pepper.
- Divide the mixture in two, and spread it on two fillets. Cover with the other two fillets, to reshape the fish. Tie the fish with a kitchen string, and put both on a baking tray lightly greased and add the garlic clove.
- Cook the fish for 5 minutes then add the wine. Continue cooking the fish for about 30/35min. sprinkling fish stock or water on top if it becomes too dry.
- Take the fish out if the oven and serve a fillet per person with some of the stuffing.
