There's a fly in my soup!: Catch of the day! Pesce Intero al Forno

I want to thank each and every one of my readers for your amazing support! I know my little blog has only been up for a week but I’ve gotten so many hits it’s unbelievable! The ‘Pesce al sale’ recipe I posted was a great hit and so I decided to share another one of my personal favourite Italian fish dish recipes. This recipe is once again by my two favorite ladies, Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers. Today I will be sharing ‘Pesce Intero al Forno’ or 'whole roasted fish with potatoes' straight out of The River Classic Italian Cookbook!

Cook, eat and enjoy!

Photo by Carl van Niekerk

For 4

8 large yellow waxy potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2 lemons: 1cut into 1cm pieces with the skin left on, 1 finely sliced

3-4 sprigs of fresh oregano, leaves picked from half

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

1 x 2kg sea bass, John Dory or sea bream. I used Yellow tail for this dish!

150ml white wine, such as Pinot Bianco, Verdicchio or Vermentina

Preheat the oven to 250 °C or high as it will go

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Put in the potatoes and the garlic and cook for 5 minutes, then drain and put into a bowl. Add the lemon pieces and most of the oregano leaves, and season with salt and black pepper. Pour over 3 tablespoons of olive oil and mix well.

Put the potatoes into a large oval ovenproof dish big enough to hold the fish. Stuff the fish with the remaining whole oregano sprigs and the slices of lemon. Season inside and out. Place the fish on top of the potatoes, drizzle with a little olive oil and roast in the oven for 20 minutes. Add the wine and stir the potatoes around in the juices. Continue to roast for a further 5-10 minutes, or until the fish and potatoes are cooked. Test whether the fish is cooked by inserting a fork into the thickest part, near the head. When it’s ready, sprinkle over the rest of the oregano leaves.