The Sea Bream Fillet with a Crust of Mixed Seeds is a recipe that doesn’t require much skill, especially if we rely on our trusted fishmonger for cleaning and filleting the fish. However, remember to save the head and bones: essential for preparing a great fish broth to store in the freezer.
Delicious to taste and also beautiful to present, they will always be much appreciated both in taste and appearance, because as they say: we eat with our eyes too. If you don’t like the slight marination with white wine, you can skip it but add some grated lemon zest to the mashed potatoes.
A different idea to bring to the table even for Christmas Eve dinner.
Here are links to other delicious fish recipes:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Boiling, Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 large sea bream fillets
- 4 small potatoes
- 1 bunch chopped parsley
- 1 clove chopped garlic
- to taste Extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt and pepper
- 1 glass White wine
- to taste Sesame seeds
- to taste Poppy seeds
- to taste chopped pistachios
Tools
- 1 Baking sheet
- 1 parchment paper
- 1 Pressure cooker
- 1 Potato masher
- 1 Spatula
Preparation
First of all, let’s boil the potatoes right away. If using a pressure cooker, it will only take 10/15 minutes depending on their size, otherwise, about 50 minutes with traditional cooking. In this case, wash them under running water, place them in the pressure cooker, and add water just to cover them. Put the pot on the stove on high heat, and as soon as you hear the loud whistle, lower the heat and finish cooking. For proper use of the pot, I recommend reading the following article: Pressure Cooker and Its Use. Meanwhile, prepare a mixture of garlic and parsley and arrange the sea bream fillets.
Cover them with white wine, add pepper, salt, and let them marinate in the fridge until the potatoes are ready. After the necessary time, remove them from the marinade and pat them dry with absorbent paper to remove as much liquid as possible.
Peel the potatoes and mash them while they are still quite hot. Add extra virgin olive oil, garlic and parsley mixture, salt, pepper, and mix all the ingredients well until you get a sort of puree.
Place the sea bream fillets on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread the potato mixture on top with a spatula to make our work easier. After this, sprinkle them with sesame and poppy seeds. For personal taste, I also added chopped pistachios, but it’s optional. Drizzle a little extra olive oil over the fillets and bake them in a preheated oven at 350°F, cooking them for about 20 minutes. Do not exceed the cooking time to avoid drying them out.
Serve the Sea Bream Fillet with a Crust of Mixed Seeds only after letting it rest for at least two minutes.
Tips
Prepare the sea bream fillets the day before, especially if your trusted fishmonger didn’t do it.
As an alternative to fresh fish, you can opt for pre-filleted frozen fish.
Make sure it is high-quality frozen fish because the difference is noticeable in taste and texture.
You can enrich your Sea Bream Fillets with other toppings that satisfy your preferences.
