Coral Trout is a striking looking fish with its blue spots against a red skin. It presents beautifully as a whole fish and the sweet, white flesh marries well with the Mediterranean flavours in this dish.
INGREDIENTS:
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
2 tablespoons rosemary, roughly chopped
1 dried bay leaf
½ cup small black olives
200ml dry white wine
800g canned tomatoes, roughly chopped
½ cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 large potatoes
1 x 1.5kg Coral Trout, scaled, gilled and gutted
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
Heat half the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, add the rosemary, bay and olives and cook for a further minute. Add the wine and bring to the boil. Add the tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper, return to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile peel and dice the potatoes and place in a heavy roasting dish. Add remaining olive oil, salt and pepper and toss well to coat. Bake for 10 minutes.
Wipe the belly cavity of the fish thoroughly with a clean damp cloth to remove any trace of blood. Score both sides of the fish with 3 or 4 angled cuts through to the bone.
Remove roasting dish from oven and push potatoes to the sides of the dish to make space for the fish. Place fish in dish and spoon the tomato sauce over the top. Return roasting dish to oven and bake for a further 30-40 minutes, until the flesh flakes easily when tested with a fork.
ALTERNATIVE SPECIES:
Barramundi, Ocean Perch, Pearl Perch, Red Emperor, Snapper.