Simply grilled branzino fish, also known as sea bass, is stuffed with lemon slices, lots of fresh herbs and served along side a bright and lemony citrus oil.
This isn’t the first time I was skeptical about putting controversial food on the blog. Maybe the wrong choice of words, but apparently in the “food blogging” world, readers eat with their eyes first, like all I suppose. And looks play a huge part if someone is going to try out your recipe.
I thought about that a few years ago when I made Julia Child’s lobster thermidore. It was per requested for Joe’s birthday and to this day, is probably one of the best meals we have ever made. It was a huge labor of love, taking hours to prepare, so the photos were taken at night without the obliged “daylight” that food photographers swear by.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love taking pictures of food, but like I said previously..I am a cook first. I want you to read the post and fall in love with the recipe, because, honestly everything I put on here is something we absolutely loved and most likely devoured.
Now, with that being said…..how do you feel about food with a face? I remember trips to the fish market where my mom would ooh and ahh over lobster but would freak out when the plate of lobster was face up looking right at her. Fortunately, I didn’t get that fish face anxiety.
We are full fledged fish grillers all through out the summer! As many of you know, we just moved from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest and haven’t lived in the rainy winter months yet, so we are totally taking full advantage of our char-coal grill.
The beautiful thing about whole grilled branzino is that there is little prep. Have the fish monger scale and de-gut the fish (ya…is there a more appropriate way to say that?) and once you’re ready, stuff the fish with lemon slices, fresh herbs, s&p and olive oil.
A tip I do have (as we learned the hard way), grease your grill VERY very well so that when you’re ready to flip your fish, the skin won’t stick.
Happy summer grilling! Tell me what your favorite fish is to grill!?
Grilled Branzino with Lemon and Fresh Herbs
Ingredients
- 2 whole branzino also called sea bass, about 1 lb. each
- 2 lemon thinly sliced
- Few sprigs of fresh herbs parsley, cilantro, thyme and/or basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil for drizzling
- Herb Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 lemon zested and juiced
- Few leaves of fresh herbs basil, parsley, cilantro
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Ask your fish monger to clean the branzino well, to de-scale it and de-gut.
- Into the cavity of the fish, season well with salt and pepper and stuff with lemon slices and herbs and a bit of olive oi.
- Season the outsides of the fish with salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil as well..
- Heat your grill to medium-high heat and cook fish on each side for about 5-7 minutes until the skin is charred and fish looks opaque.
- Once done, reserve to a platter and serve with more lemon and herb olive oil.
- To make herb olive oil, chop fresh herbs finely and mix with olive oil. Add lemon zest and juice and season with salt and pepper.
- Drizzle citrus oil over fish when ready to serve.
Nutrition
Because it’s summer after all, this spicy grilled fish with citrus slaw looks perfect for a summer dinner outside or even top it with some grilled pineapple salsa!
My spouse is our grill chef and has created numerous delicious meals, but this is definitely one of the best! Never had a whole grilled fish and can’t wait to do this again. Followed the recipe to the letter, except did remove the head before grilling. Fresh herbs from our own garden were perfect in this. Thanks for leading us to a truly wonderful meal!
Hi Virginia..so glad you ventured into whole fish! I love it so much. A bit more work to eat through but well worth it I think! I am thinking of trying a while fish on a soaked cedar plank this summer as well. 🙂