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on perfect fish with crispy skin and flesh that is just
cooked through. You can really use any fish you like,
other than flat fish like sole, but if you are using sea
bass, try to find a wild fish, which is bigger and tastes
better. The sea bass we get are really big, weighing
about 2.5-5kg each, and they give us fillets about 1.5cm
thick, which we can cut into portions. You are more
likely to find smaller fish, but try to find the thickest
fillets possible, because they are harder to overcook.
With thinner fillets, by the time the skin crisps up, the
flesh is already in danger of being overdone.
oOo
Method
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1
Cut the tomato flesh into quarters and then into
dice about the same size as the olive dice.
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2
Put the sun-dried tomatoes into a food processor,
whiz them quickly, then add the breadcrumbs and whiz
again until the tomato is absorbed into the breadcrumbs
and it looks a bit like a crumble mixture. Spoon out
on to a tray and flatten down. Leave in a warm place
in the kitchen for an hour or so to dry out.
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3
Preheat the oven to 200°C / gas 6 and take your
sea bass out of the fridge so that it can come to room
temperature. Squeeze the lemon juice, put half to one
side and add the rest to a bowl of water. Have this ready
before you start preparing the artichokes for the purée.
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4
To make the purée, snap off the artichoke stalks
and discard them. With a small paring knife – and
starting at the base of each artichoke – trim off all the
green leaves and put it into the bowl of water with the
lemon juice, while you remove the leaves from the next
one. Repeat with the remaining artichokes. Using the
same paring knife, begin to trim away the white leaves
from each artichoke until you are left only with a few
tender ones surrounding the heart. Put back into the
bowl of water and continue to trim the other artichokes,
putting them into the water as soon as they are ready,
so that they don’t discolour. Cut each artichoke heart
in half, scoop out the hairy chokes and discard them.
Leave the remaining hearts in the bowl of water until
you need them.
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5
Heat a saucepan, add the olive oil and then
the sliced onions. Cook for about 10 minutes until
the onions are soft but not coloured. Thinly slice the
artichoke hearts, add them to the onion and cook for
another 5 minutes, then add the white wine. Allow
the alcohol to evaporate completely (about 15-20
minutes) and then add 250ml water. Continue to cook
for another 20 minutes or so, until the artichokes are
soft and all the water has disappeared – keep an eye on
the pan and stir as the water evaporates, to avoid the
artichokes catching and burning.
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6
Transfer the contents of the pan containing the
artichokes to a food processor and purée until smooth.
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7
Put the cream in a pan and boil it to reduce it by
half. Add the artichoke purée and let it cook for a few
minutes. The resulting purée should be soft, but firm
enough for the sea bass to sit on top; if you feel that it
is too wet, let it cook a little longer to dry it out. When
it is ready, season to taste, cover and keep to one side.
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8
Take an ovenproof non-stick frying pan big
enough to fit all the fillets comfortably and get it hot on
the hob. (If you don’t have a big enough pan, you will
need to cook the fillets in two batches). Lightly season
the fish on the skin side, put a tablespoon of olive oil
into the pan (it will heat up instantly) and add the fillets,
skin side down. As the heat goes through the fish it will
turn from translucent to white and opaque.
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9
As soon as the fillet has turned white halfway up
the fillet, turn it over (the skin should now be crisp and
golden) and sprinkle with the dried breadcrumb and
tomato mixture. Pour the wine into the pan (around,
not over the fish) and then transfer to the oven for a
couple of minutes. The breadcrumbs will crisp up and
become darker in colour.
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10
Take the pan from the oven and lift the fish on to
a warm plate. Put the pan back on the heat and add the
olives and fish stock, and bubble up so that it reduces
by half. Then put the sea bass back into the sauce for a
minute or so to heat through.
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11
At the same time, put the artichoke purée back
on the heat to warm through. Stir in the butter and,
when the purée is hot, spoon it on to your plates and
put the fish on top.
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12
To the pan in which the fish has been cooked,
add the reserved lemon juice, the rest of the olive oil
and the parsley, then spoon this mixture around the
fish and serve.
oOo
l
Taken from Giorgio Locatelli’s Made in
Italy, published by Fourth Estate, London
