Baked sea bream in parchment has a very delicate flavor. Its flesh is exquisite, and with little effort, you can prepare a healthy, light, and nutritious main dish.
Discover the various names of sea bream in Italy.
MOST suitable months for purchase:
Farm-raised sea bream: all year round.
Wild sea bream: from June to November.
Wild bass: from November to February, June.
Mullet: from March to July, from September to December.
Dentex: from April to September, November, and December.
Pagellus: spring and winter.
Amberjack: winter and summer.
Scorpionfish: all year round.
SEA fish recipes
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: All seasons, Summer, Autumn
- Energy 239.26 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 3.04 (g) of which sugars 1.99 (g)
- Proteins 36.41 (g)
- Fat 7.87 (g) of which saturated 2.13 (g)of which unsaturated 4.76 (g)
- Fibers 0.45 (g)
- Sodium 1.31 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 125 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Baked Sea Bream
- 3 lbs sea bream (whole weight to clean)
- to taste dried oregano (or rosemary, thyme, savory)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsps lemon juice (or orange)
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 glass white wine (about 70 g)
Ingredients to serve
(choose from)
– lemon slices
– extra virgin olive oil
– mayonnaise
– green sauce
Tools
- Baking pan for baking fish
- Parchment paper
- Fork or spoon
Baked Sea Bream
How to clean the whole fish?
Gut the sea bream to remove its internal organs and, if necessary, scale it. It’s much better to have these operations done by your fishmonger.
At home, wash it very well under running water and cut off the fins if needed.
Baking sea bream in the oven
Turn on the static oven to 374°F.
Place the fish in a baking pan suitable for its cooking, like this one.
For the parchment, cover the pan with parchment paper (better to avoid aluminum, see below), place the fish on top, and sprinkle both externally and internally with thyme and/or oregano, slices of garlic, and lemon. Pour olive oil and white wine over it.
In season, you can add halved or whole cherry tomatoes.
Close the parchment on top and bake in a preheated static oven at 374°F, on a middle rack, for about 40 minutes or more. If the parchment is not closed, every 15 minutes, use a spoon to scoop the liquid formed at the bottom and pour it over the fish while cooking.
Test its cooking degree with a knife blade (or with its anal fin).
Cooking time based on weight
At least 15 minutes of cooking are needed for half a kilogram of baked fish, adjust according to the weight of your fish or fish in the oven.
To obtain crispy skin, in the last 5 minutes of cooking, uncover the fish and switch to fan mode. In general, it’s better not to use the fan mode with fish to avoid drying out its flesh.
How to serve the fish?
Once cooked, gently remove the outer skin with the help of a fork (or a spoon), then detach the dorsal and ventral flesh from its central bone, being careful not to take black and bitter parts.
Gradually place the scraps on another tray, then continue to remove the large central spine starting from the tail to the head (if the fish is large, you can recover more good meat inside its snout).
Recover the other fillet of meat, detaching it from the underlying skin.
Plate the fillets on warm plates and accompany the baked sea bream with cooked or raw vegetables, or flavorful roasted potatoes.
Season with its tasty cooking liquid, lemon juice, or a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil.
What is the best fish to bake in parchment?
Bass, mullet, dentex, sea bream, pagellus, amberjack, scorpionfish, and bass are the ones I recommend. For 4 people, purchase a large fish (at least 2.6 lbs) or two small ones around 1.4 lbs.
For baked sea bream, is it better to use parchment paper or aluminum foil?
For baking, and especially for baking in parchment, it’s always better to use parchment paper (it withstands up to 428°F), as aluminum foil is not suitable for cooking or contact with acidic substances (vinegar, citrus, and tomato), as they can release harmful substances.
For baking, and especially for baking in parchment, it’s always better to use parchment paper (it withstands up to 428°F), as aluminum foil is not suitable for cooking or contact with acidic substances (vinegar, citrus, and tomato), as they can release harmful substances.
