cookAngela Hartnett's oven-roasted sea bream with fennel

This is one of those dishes that involves minimum fuss – you stick it on the table and people help themselves. The easiest way to serve is to run your knife along the back of the fish, and then use a spoon to pull the flesh away from the bones. It is also delicious cold the next day, with a dollop of mayonnaise. From: theguardian.com
Serves four as a main course

A glug of olive oil
2 whole sea bream (about 800g each)
1 head of fennel, sliced, with the root removed
2 large potatoes, washed, skin on and sliced very thin
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic, sliced thinly
200ml white wine
Salt and pepper
1 lemon, zested, then sliced
1 sprig of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
2 tblsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Ask your fishmonger to prepare the bream for you – it needs to be cleaned, with the guts, eyes and gills removed. Keep it in the fridge until you use it. Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas4. Add a dash of olive oil to a large, oven-proof dish, then in go the fennel, sliced potatoes, onion, garlic, wine and 100ml water.

Season the fish, and place the lemon slices, thyme and rosemary inside it, before laying it in the oven dish.

Cover the dish with foil, and place in the oven for 15 minutes (if it looks a little dry during the cooking, add a touch more water). To check the fish is cooked, stick the handle of a spoon or fork into the thickest part – it should go through easily.

Remove from the oven, and finish with the grated lemon zest and parsley, and serve family-style, in the middle of the table.

Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional Copyright © 2009 Hazelnet & Styleshout Valid CSS!