Baked Stuffed Sea Bass with Warm Tomato Vinaigrette

Baked Stuffed Sea Bass with Warm Tomato Vinaigrette

So I've shifted about 10lbs so far, thanks for asking, basically by doing the simple things like cutting out eating crap, not drinking beer (boo!), watching my carb intake and training for my fifth marathon (you'll sadly be hearing more of the latter over the coming months). To keep with the health theme, here's a quick and easy fish recipe using one of my favourite fish, sea bass – quite an expensive fish, especially if buying fillets, but most good fishmongers and supermarket fish counters will normally have a decent deal on whole fish. Get them to scale and gut it if it hasn't been already been done and don't worry about the bones and it being all fiddly blah de blah. If it's cooked right, the skin will easily peel off and the moist, milky white sweet flesh will just come away with little effort. The nutty stuffing and almost sweet and sour dressing worked a treat. This recipe comes from Waitrose.com. Serves 2.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 plum tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped
salt and pepper
100g pine nuts, crushed
8 large basil leaves, plus more for garnish
2 whole sea bass, each about 450g, cleaned and trimmed of fins

For the vinaigrette:
6 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 plum tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 190C/gas 5. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion, tomatoes and garlic and cook gently for 5 minutes. Season, then add the pine nuts and basil and cook for a further 2 minutes.
2. Stuff both fish with the mixture and place on a separate piece of well-greased foil. Wrap into a tight parcel.
3. Place on a baking tray and cook for 25 minutes or until cooked.
4. For the vinaigrette, whisk the olive oil and balsamic in a small saucepan. Add the tomatoes and shallot, season and gently warm through.
5. Check fish is cooked, remove from the foil and transfer to a large plate. Spoon the dressing over and garnish with chopped basil.