Sea bass with ouzo

In the show, I cooked this recipe at Vivari Beach at Drepano. Here, I gathered Greek ingredients and cooked them spontaneously. Sea bass is not available in Australia. Barramundi is a good substitute. If the fish is too large for your pan, cut off the head.

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• ¼ cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil
• 1 kg approx. whole sea bass or barramundi, cleaned and scaled, head-on
• 1 cup (250 ml) ouzo

Stuffing

• 60 ml olive oil
• 2 pencil leeks, cut into 1 cm slices
• ½ bunch dill, chopped
• zest of 1 lemon

Instructions

1. For stuffing, heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring often until wilted and soft but not brown. Remove from heat and cool. Add remaining ingredients. Fill fish cavity with stuffing.

2. Heat olive oil in a deep-sided pan over medium high heat and when hot add fish. Immediately pour over ouzo and allow to bubble up. Add 1 cup water, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. After 7-8 minutes, turn over carefully. Replace lid and cook for a further 7-8 minutes or until fish is opaque and cooked through.

Note

• To serve as a main course, you may want to buy slightly larger fish and cook for a couple of minutes longer.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.