Sea bream wrapped in cooking foil 2 (Orata al cartoccio)

Preparation:  10 minutes

Cooking: 35 minutes
Difficulty: Easy  

One of the easiest and most effective ways to cook fish is to wrap it in foil. All the flavours stay inside the wrap and work their way through the fish flesh! When cooking using this method, use simple ingredients and very fresh fish for best results. This recipe is similar to the “sea bream wrapped in cooking foil 1” recipe, featured in the seafood section of the website, but this time I have used different ingredients and a slightly bigger fish. 

TO SERVE 4 PEOPLE, PREPARE 4 WRAPS 

Ingredients for one wrap (Metric & Imperial measurements): 

• 1 Sea bream about 450 g (1 lb)
• 5 Small cherry tomatoes
• A small handful of capers
• A small handful of pitted green olives
• Some extra virgin olive oil 
• A couple of potatoes
• Salt and black ground pepper for seasoning
• These are Imperial and Metric measurements. U.S measurements available at italyum.com

Nutrition facts: Calories 650 per serving.

Ingredients for one wrap (Metric & Imperial measurements): 

• 1 Sea bream of about 16 ounces (1 pound) weight
• 5 Small cherry tomatoes
• A small handful of capers
• A small handful of pitted green olives
• Some extra virgin olive oil 
• A couple of potatoes
• Salt and black ground pepper for seasoning

Directions: 

When buying the fish, ask your fishmonger to gut and scale it, but do not remove head and tail. At home, rinse the fish under fresh water and then pat it dry with kitchen paper.

Cut a large piece of foil so that you can wrap your fish later. In the centre of the foil put a layer of greaseproof paper, roughly of the same length as your fish. Put some drops of olive oil on the greaseproof paper.

Spread the olive oil all around the greaseproof paper (use your fingers or a little brush).

Slice the potatoes (thin slices) and lay the slices down like shown in the picture. Then, drizzle some olive oil over the potato slices. The potato helps to absorb part of the liquid that may form in the bottom during the cooking. 

Take the fish and season its belly starting with a drizzle of olive oil.

Then, season the belly with salt and black pepper.

Put half of the capers inside the fish gills. 

Next, stuff the belly with a third of the olives and tomatoes (cut in half). With the remaining tomatoes, capers and olives, spread them on top and around the fish. Drizzle with olive oil over the fish. 

Season the outside with salt. 

Season the outside with black pepper. 

Close the wrap, seal it folding the sides and put it onto an oven tray. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). When the oven is hot, put the tray into the oven and cook the fish for about 35 minutes.

Once the fish is cooked, remove the top skin and drizzle with some good quality olive oil (the fish may be served on the wrap).

Buon appetito!