If you can’t find red snapper, just use any whole fish sea bream is always good cooked whole choosing whichever looks freshest. But get the fishmonger to gut it. Life’s too short to do that yourself.
Ingredients
- 2–4 large red snapper (depending on size and people’s appetites), cleaned and gutted
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small bunch of parsley, half left as whole sprigs, half with the leaves stripped and finely chopped
- 1 small bunch of lemon thyme, half left as whole sprigs, half with the leaves stripped
- 1 finely grated unwaxed lemon zest and juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 8–10 garlic cloves, crushed
- 8 tomatoes, halved
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas 6).
- Pat the fish dry with kitchen paper and season with salt and pepper inside and out. Fill the cavities with most of the parsley and thyme sprigs.
- In a small bowl, mix together the chopped parsley leaves, the thyme leaves, the lemon zest and juice, and the oil and garlic.
- Using a sharp knife, make 2 slits on either side of each fish, through the thickest part.
- Fill the slits in the fish and their cavities with the chopped herb, lemon, and garlic mix. Push some of the remaining herb sprigs into the slits, too.
- Lay the fish on a baking tray with the tomatoes around them. Sprinkle with the remaining herb sprigs and drizzle the tomatoes and fish with olive oil. Season the tomatoes very well with salt.
- Put into the oven for 25 minutes, or until cooked through.
- Either serve 1 snapper per person or, if you used 2 large fish, cut each in half in whichever way seems fairest to you, and serve.