Mediterranean Style Whole Red Snapper

I have NEVER cooked a whole fish in my life before. Heck, I don’t even usually like eating or ordering anything that can look up at me from the plate.

So when Scott came home with two whole red snapper for dinner one night in Mexico, I was pretty scared, to say the least.In fact, I’m pretty sure I just downright refused to cook them altogether.

Until I regained my senses and remembered what a big fish fan I am and I realised just how tasty they would probably turn out.

My biggest tip would be to make sure that your fishmonger cleans, guts and scores the fish for you. This will save you a LOT of time and hassle (and probably tears). In doing this, they are removing all the nasty sharp scales from the sides, taking out all of the gunk from the body of the fish (for want of a better word) and scoring the skin so that the deliciously tasty ingredients you cover them with will seep their flavours into the flesh of the fish. Also make sure that you have a flat oven pan big enough for the two fish to lay perfectly level in the oven when cooking, and line this with foil.

You will find that once the fish has cooked and is nice and tender, you will easily be able to cut off the head and the tail (the worst part for me, I found. I’m just not made to hack at any kind of animal!) and once the red snapper are plated, you should be able to pull out the backbone with a fork, and thus most of the other smaller bones. As with all whole fish, you’ll probably never be able to remove 100% of the bones, but it’s worth it for the extra flavour you get from cooking it on the bone.

Mediterranean Style Whole Red Snapper

Recipe by Julia

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• 2 whole red snapper, cleaned and scored

• 2 tbsp capers, rinsed

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

• Olive oil

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425F (220C). Line a large, flat oven tray with foil and lay the red snapper onto it.
• Press the minced garlic into the scores of the flesh (approx. one clove per fish). Cover both fish with the red pepper flakes and capers and then drizzle with a good glug of olive oil.
• Roast the fish for around 30 minutes, or until the flesh is white and cooked (it should flake easily under a fork).