by Bianquita

Created on: October 20, 2008

The Best Baked Red Snapper (serves 4)

4 medium size Red Snappers, cleaned, scaled and trimmed to your preference (get the whole fish, not 4 fillets)
4 teaspoons sea salt (flat, not heaping)
8 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1 bunch parsley, leaves only, chopped or minced
1 large red onion, diced
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
8 oz. dry white wine, like Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio

black pepper to taste

1) Pre-heat oven to 425. Wash and pat dry each fish. Spread 1 flat teaspoon of sea salt on and inside each fish, to coat evenly. Place the fish so that it lays flat inside a glass or ceramic dish, cover and refrigerate for an hour. Process the garlic, parsley and onion while you wait.

2) Take your fish and wash off most of the salt, or all of it, if you wish to reduce sodium intake. Pat dry again. Mix together the processed garlic and parsley, divide this mixture into four equal parts and place one fourth inside each fish, coating the inside of each fish evenly. Put the dressed fish back in the same dish, cover and return to the refrigerator.

3) In a skillet, briefly saute the diced onion in the olive oil, just until it looks wilted, then place it at the bottom of a baking dish large enough to hold the 4 Red Snappers, but not larger. In fact, it is better for the fish to overlap slightly, rather than to have extra room onto which some juices would flow and may burn.

4) Arrange the Red Snappers in the pan, on top of the wilted onion. Pour the lemon juice on top, making sure some of it lands inside each fish, then pour the wine on top of everything. Sprinkle with black pepper, if you like. Cover your dish with a lid or with foil and move it to the pre-heated oven. After 10 minutes, remove the lid or foil from the baking dish, but be careful not to burn yourself. Bake for a total of 25 to 35 minutes, depending on the size of the fish, or until the meat is no longer pink inside the fleshiest part of the fish. To check, you can scrape some flesh off of the meaty backside of one Red Snapper, close to the main bone. If it's ready, the meat will look white. If it's still pink, close up the scraped off part with the same flesh you removed and return the baking dish to the oven.

5) When done, serve immediately, ideally with Risotto and a side dish of Sauteed Broccoli Rabe.

Learn more about this author, Bianquita.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.