Thanks so much for your feedback on my last post! I’m listening to all your recipe wants and creating quite a list of things to make so yay for everyone! Today’s recipe is so easy to make, full of flavour and it looks so impressive when you bring it to the table. The whole baked fish stays juicy and fragrant thanks to the generous stuffing and the golden roasted fennel becomes so sweet and delicate as it cooks. Get ready to impress EVERYONE.

When you’re cooking whole fish like this you will need to avoid some bones as you’re eating but that seems a small price to pay for such easy preparation. I buy my fish from my fishmonger cleaned and gutted for me which means that after a quick pat down with a cloth to dry the skin it’s ready to go.

This is a really low waste recipe, you use every part of the fennel, the fish, the lemon, the chilli and even the chickpeas. The aqua faba (water from the can of chickpeas) even gets used to make the sauce the fish sits. Waste free cooking at its finest… and tastiest.

I love eating the crispy skin on the top of the snapperand drying the skin will ensure you get it nice and crispy. The underside will not get crispy but it sort of melts as you cook it so you might enjoy eating that too. The crispy chickpeas on top add more texture to that crispy exterior.

By stuffing the fish really generously you flavour it from the inside out and due to the water content of the ingredients you’re stuffing with it you also add moisture where you want it – inside the fish.

The flavour of roasted fennel is so much sweeter and more mild than other preparations of it. it’s a fennel gateway drug and so perfect with the fish. I used loads of extra virgin olive oil when making this dish to turn up that herbaceous flavour. The cooking heat is 200 degrees and extra virgin olive oil is still perfectly stable at that temperature and retains many of its health benefits, so it’s not juts adding flavour to the dish!

The smell of this roasting in the oven is so intoxicating, you can serve it with a side of crusty baguette or roasted potatoes if you’d like to keep it gluten free. Lightly dressed bitter greens are also delicious.

The tartar sauce it’s served on is so easy to whip up and using the aquafaba gives it much more body than if you were just adding water. Also – note the lack of ‘e’ on the end, it’s not the fish and chips type of tartare sauce this is a tartar style sauce made with nuts and tahini. It is also sometimes called taratoor. I think, I’m not an expert!

Serves 4

Ingredients

6 cloves garlic

2 fennel bulbs

4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Whole Snapper, descaled and gutted

4 small lemons

1 red chilli

1/4 cup + 2 Tbs flat leaf parsley

1 can chickpeas

2/3 cup raw cashews

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 tsp sweet paprika

1/2 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to season

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Chop the tops off your fennel bulbs and set aside. Chop the fennel into 1-2cm thick wedges and toss with 1 Tbs oil. Place in a single layer on the prepared oven tray add 4 of the garlic cloves, season with salt and pepper and roast for 15 minutes in your preheated oven.

Meanwhile drain chickpeas, setting the water from the can aside to use later. Pat dry with a cloth then toss with the spices and a couple of tsps of oil. Lay in a single layer on another lined tray, sprinkle lightly with salt and roast for 15-20 minutes on the bottom shelf of the oven or until golden and crisp but not dried through. You want them to retain a little creaminess in the middle otherwise the texture becomes chalky and less pleasant. They can be served cold so set aside when crispy enough.

Prepare the snapper by patting the skin dry with a cloth and then using a sharp knife to score the skin a few times. Finely chop the fennel stalks and all but 2 Tbs of the fronds. Finely chop the 1/4 cup parsley and slice half the chilli. Season and toss these ingredients together on your board. Slice 2 of the lemons finely and place 4 lemon slices into the cavity of the snapper. Stuff the fennel, chilli and parsley mixture into the Snapper cavity until it is firmly stuffed. Add a few extra slices of lemon on top of this stuffing inside the cavity. Season the top of the fish with salt and pepper and drizzle in oil.

Remove the fennel from the oven and push to the edges of the tray, add a few slices of lemon amongst the fennel and place the rest in the middle of the tray. Lay the snapper on top of this and roast for 20-25 minutes until the skin is lightly crisped, the tail is golden and the flesh is opaque.

While the fish is roasting make your tartar sauce by combining the cashews, tahini, zest and juice of a lemon, and  2 cloves of garlic in a food process blitz with 4 ice cubes until it looks a a lumpy nut butter. With the food processor running add the aquafaba in a steady stream. The sauce should be the consistency of very thick and creamy yoghurt. If it’s too thick add some water a Tbs at a time. Season to taste.

Spread the cashew tartar over the base of your serving dish. Scatter with a few fennel fronds.

Combine the remaining fronds with 2 tsps lemon zest from your remaining lemon, and the rest of the chilli and parsley (both finely chopped).

Remove the fish from the oven and place the roasted lemon slices and fennel on top of the sauce and then place the fish on top of this. Scatter with the herb and zest mixture and a handful of the crispy chickpeas. Serve with lemon wedges and the remaining chickpeas on the side. Drizzle in extrav rigin olive oil and sprinkle with a good crack of black pepper.

HH. x