When Ana took me to her local market, I first bought a beautiful, big orange fish. Then came the herbs, garlic, salad ingredients, fresh figs and peaches, bread and cheese, as well as bunches of gorgeous flowers for Ana and Susanna from the old flower seller. This old lady had apparently been selling flowers for 74 years, starting when she was 10 years old. It made me sad to see this 84 year-old still working, but she seemed to be really happy surrounded by her flowers. With enough food to feed 20 people we made our way to Ana’s apartment to cook lunch. Ana had just harvested some beautiful red potatoes from the garden of her country house, so they had to be part of the dish.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 35 minutes |
| Servings |
4 - 6
|
Ingredients
- 500 g par-boiled new potatoes halved
- 2 peeled onions thinly sliced
- 3 tomatoes thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 Tbs olive oil
- 250 ml dry white wine
- 2 kg 1 whole firm-fleshed fish or 4 small ones
- ½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
Ingredients
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|
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Place the potatoes on the base of a baking dish with the onions, tomatoes, garlic and bay leaves. Season the salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and half the white wine.
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Toss together and the bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and prepare the fish.
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Wash and dry the fish and make 3 slashes into flesh on the top. Remove a third of the tomato mixture, without potatoes, from the baking dish and set aside.
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Season the fish and place it on top of the remaining tomato mixture in the baking dish. Pour over the rest of the white wine and olive oil, and spread the reserved tomato mix onto the fish.
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Reduce the oven temperature to 180 °C and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the fish is succulent and flaking from the bone. Whatever you do, don’t overcook it!
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Scatter the fish with chopped parsley and bring it to the table in the baking dish or placed on a platter.
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Serve with a gloriously abundant green salad and Portuguese rolls for mopping up the sauce, and a few bottles of chilled, fruity dry white wine.
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