Whole fish wrapped in paper and baked with chermoula

35 MINUTES | SERVES 4

EASY |

Wrapping fish in baking paper is a great hack for anxious fish cooks, as it guarantees the fish cooks well, remaining moist, and it gives you flexibility in cooking and serving times. The fish, sealed in with its steamy vapours, can’t dry out too terribly if your mealtime organisation slips up. The liquid that seasons and cooks the fish within the parcel can be as minimal as olive oil or butter and a slosh of white wine or citrus juice.

LC GF

lemon 4 slices (cut the remaining lemon into wedges, to serve)

bay leaves 4 large, scrunched whole sea bream or bass 4, scaled, gutted and cleaned, and slashed 3 times on each side CHERMOULA

coriander a small bunch, roughly chopped

flat-leaf parsley a small bunch, roughly chopped

olive oil 50ml

lemon Ω, juiced

smoked paprika (sweet or hot) 2 tsp

ground cumin 1 tsp

garlic 2 cloves, peeled

red chilli 1 small, stem removed

• Use a food processor to blend together all the chermoula ingredients to form a smooth sauce. Season and set aside.

• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and put a baking tray in the oven to heat up. Cut four large sheets of baking paper and fold each in half – each should be big enough to fit a whole fish. Season the fish and put one in each parcel with a lemon slice and a bay leaf. Spoon over 1 tbsp of chermoula per fish. Fold up the sides of the parcels to seal. Space the parcels on the baking tray in a single layer and bake for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through.

• Put a parcel on each plate and let your guests unwrap their portion at the table. Serve with the remaining chermoula for everyone to help themselves.

PER SERVING 353 KCALS | FAT 21.4G

SATURATES 3.8G | CARBS 1.5G | SUGARS 0.6G

FIBRE 1.3G | PROTEIN 37.9G | SALT 0.3G