Moroccan cuisine · Fish & Seafood

Hout bel Chermoula fi Ferrane

Whole fish thickly coated in chermoula and oven-baked on a bed of potato and tomato slices.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 2 sea bream (about 500 g each, cleaned)
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika (sweet)
• 1 lemon
• 600 g potatoes
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 red bell pepper
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. For the chermoula, finely chop the cilantro, parsley and garlic and mix with the cumin, paprika, juice of half a lemon, 4 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper into a thick paste.
2. Score the sea bream three times diagonally inside and out, rub with two-thirds of the chermoula — including inside the cuts and the belly — and let sit for 20 min.
3. Peel the potatoes and slice thinly (4 mm), slice the tomatoes and cut the bell pepper into rings.
4. Preheat the oven to 200°C top/bottom heat, toss the potato slices with the remaining olive oil and salt and arrange them shingled in a large baking dish.
5. Place the fish on top, scatter the tomatoes and pepper rings around, spread the remaining chermoula over the fish and bake for 35–40 min, until the potatoes are soft and the fish skin is crisp.
6. Let the fish rest for 5 min and bring it to the table straight in the dish with lemon wedges.