Pan-fried Sea Bass With Citrus-dressed Broccoli
This recipe offers a delightful combination of flavors and textures, showcasing beautifully seared sea bass fillets served with a vibrant warm broccoli salad. The fish is perfectly cooked with a crispy skin and tender flesh, complemented by the zesty and savory notes of orange, lemon, capers, and anchovies in the sauce. Each bite is a harmonious blend of fresh seafood and bright citrus, making this dish a refreshing and satisfying meal for any occasion.
— Constant Cookbook
Ingredients
- 2 sea bass fillets, about 140g each (see tips, below)
- 1 small head of broccoli
- 1 orange
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp small capers
- 6 anchovies , roughly chopped
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- Before you start cooking, get everything prepared. Trim each sea bass fillet so they are both the same shape, then score the skin, cutting into the flesh slightly, 5 or 6 times at about 1cm intervals. Set aside.
- Segment the orange – slice off the top and bottom, then cut away the skin and pith. Cut away each segment, then squeeze out the juice from the rest of the orange into a bowl. Cut the broccoli into medium-size florets.
- To make the warm broccoli salad, cook the florets in a pan of boiling salted water for 1 min until just cooked. While the broccoli is cooking, put a frying pan on to heat. As soon as the broccoli is cooked, drain it, then tip straight into the hot frying pan to ‘scorch’ out all the moisture.
- Turn off the heat, then scatter the orange segments over the broccoli. Toss for a few moments just to heat through, then tip into a bowl and dress with the orange juice and 2 tbsp olive oil. Season with pepper and a small sprinkling of sea salt, then set aside.
- Wipe out the pan. Season the fish with a little salt and pepper just before cooking. Heat the frying pan until very hot, then add 2 tbsp oil. Lay the fish fillets in the pan, skin-side down. As soon as it goes in, press each fillet down with your fingers or a fish slice to stop it from curling up.
- Reduce the heat to medium, then leave the fish to cook for 3-4 mins, undisturbed, until you can see that the flesh has cooked two-thirds of the way up and the skin is crisp and brown.
- Flip the fillets over, then fry on the flesh side for about 2 mins until just done, basting the skin with the oil in the pan as it cooks. Leave to rest on a warm plate, skin-side up, and baste with the hot oil and juices from the pan.
- Pour 2 tbsp olive oil into the pan and place it back on a high heat. Scatter in the capers and anchovies, then cook until they start to crisp. Grate over the lemon zest and squeeze in the juice of ½ the lemon. If there isn’t enough juices in the pan to drizzle over both plates, add a splash more oil. You are now ready to plate up.
Cook Time
15M
Prep Time
PT15M
Yield
Serves 2
Nutrition
- Calories: 528 calories
- Fat Content: 39 grams fat
- Saturated Fat Content: 6 grams saturated fat
- Carbohydrate Content: 10 grams carbohydrates
- Sugar Content: 9 grams sugar
- Fiber Content: 4 grams fiber
- Protein Content: 36 grams protein
- Sodium Content: 2.97 milligram of sodium
Comments
No comments found.