Oven-baked bluefish with tomatoes and lemon

Bluefish, the fish Burgas fishermen wait for every autumn, is in season in November. Its flesh is firm and pale, so it bakes well in a tray with tomato sauce and onion. Prep takes 20 minutes, and the oven does the rest.

Ingredients

Method

1. Prepare the fish

   Rinse the bluefish, pat it dry with paper towels and cut it into 3 cm pieces. Season with 1 tsp salt, sprinkle with the black pepper and set aside while you make the sauce.

   

2. Soften the onion

   Slice the onion into thin half-moons and cook it in 3 tbsp olive oil over medium heat for about 8 minutes, until translucent. Add the chopped garlic for the last minute.

   

3. Make the sauce

   Chop the tomatoes finely and add them to the onion with the bay leaves, the wine and 1/2 tsp salt. Simmer for 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Heat the oven to 200°C.

   

4. Arrange in the tray

   Pour the sauce into a baking tray and lay the fish pieces on top. Cover them with half the lemon, cut into thin slices, and drizzle with the remaining 3 tbsp olive oil.

   

5. Bake the fish

   Bake for 20 to 25 minutes on the middle rack. The fish is done when the inside reaches 63°C or the flesh comes away easily from the bone. Halfway through, spoon the sauce from the tray over the pieces.

   Don't turn the pieces, so the flesh doesn't fall apart.

   

6. Finish with herbs

   Take the tray out and let it rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley and squeeze the juice of the other half of the lemon over the fish.

   

How to serve it

Serve with a green salad of lettuce and cucumber, and a thick slice of bread for mopping up the sauce from the tray.

Did you know?

Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) is a predatory schooling fish caught in the Black Sea in autumn.

Per serving (approx.): 500 kcal · protein 40 g · fat 30 g · carbohydrates 14 g