Herb Roasted Branzino with Garlic and Lemons Recipe

So, I made this guy last night, and let me tell you he tasted delicious. I haven't cooked a whole fish in a while, mainly because I haven't caught anything worth stuffing and roasting in quite some time, so when I happened across several beautiful whole Branzino's while traipsing through our local Whole Foods Market, I just had to get one.

Branzino, a.k.a. European Sea Bass or Loup de Mer, is a medium-sized, light and flaky fish that is akin to Rockfish, but has a much richer, almost butterier texture. It's a bit boney, so you'll have to pick through it carefully, but it's a wonderful fish to serve table side and perfect for two people to jam their forks into.

For cooking, I decided to roast my Branzino on a big pile of herbs from my garden that have miraculously remained intact due some crazy warm weather this season. I started by busting out my tried and true Le Creuset oval skillet, which is perfect for roasted a small to medium-sized fish since it can withstand high over heat. I laid a big pile of herbs on the skillet-- in this case, rosemary, thyme and sage, but you can use whatever you have.

Next, I washed and patted dry my already scaled and gutted fish.

I then rubbed this bad boy inside and out with a generous amount of salt and pepper and good quality olive oil. I used a chunky grey sea salt as well as a rosemary salt blend FYI.

I then chopped up a whole mess of garlic (like 5 big cloves) and blended that with some lemon zest and red pepper flakes and rubbed the fish inside and out again.

I stuffed the fish with more herbs and slices of lemon and drizzled even more olive oil over the whole shebang. Finally I poured about a cup of dry white wine into the pan and covered the pan tightly with heavy duty tin foil before placing it into a 450 degree oven.

After about 15 minutes, I removed the tin foil and let the fish continue to cook about another 5 minutes (just to crisp up a bit on the outside) before I removed it to a plate for service along with some roasted brussels sprouts.

And, this was all that was left at the end of the meal, so I'd say it was a success.

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