Greek-style Grilled Sea Bream With Onions and Tomatoes
Recipe byThis Green-style grilled sea bream with onions and tomatoes was cooked with a little white wine, plenty of garlic and finished off with lemon juice. The effect? Magnifico!As the title says, the fish is first grilled to give it texture. It is an essential first step (you may also try pan frying the fish in olive oil if a grill is unavailable) to prevent the fish from turning into a mush during the poaching stage. So, once you have your grilled (or pan fried fish), you lower it into the barely simmering sauce and you poach it just long enough to allow the fish to soak up all the wonderful flavors.
Ingredients
- 1 sea bream about 800 grams, cleaned and gutted (see notes after the recipe)
- salt
- pepper
- olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- 1 cup finely chopped tomatoes
- 2 generous pinches dried oregano
- 1 generous pinch thyme
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 generous splash white wine
- juice of half a lemon
- chopped greens (scallions, basil or parsley), to garnish
Instructions
- Rinse the sea bream well. Pat dry with a kitchen towel.
- Score the fish two to three times on both sides.
- Rub generously with salt and pepper.
- Heat the grill and brush the rack with olive oil.
- Brush the fish liberally with olive oil.
- Grill over high heat, about five minutes per side. Set aside.
- In a wide shallow pan, heat about two tablespoons of olive oil.
- Saute the garlic, onion, tomatoes, oregano, thyme and paprika with a little salt and pepper until the tomatoes star to liquefy.
- Pour in the white wine. Allow to boil, uncovered, for about two minutes.
- Lower the heat. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper, as needed.
- Lay the grilled sea bream on the sauce.
- Cover the pan tightly and poach the fish for about 20 minutes until the sauce is no longer soupy.
- Lay the fish on a serving plate and pour the sauce over it.
- Squeeze lemon juice directly over the fish and sauce.
- Serve your Greek-style grilled sea bream with onions and tomatoes topped with chopped greens of your choice.
Notes
If sea bream is not available, substitute any firm and fleshy fish.
Updated from a recipe originally published in March 15, 2017