BREAM WITH WALNUTS AND POMEGRANATE

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves 4 Pictured previous page

Fish counters in supermarkets are, sadly, disappearing, but if you can’t source whole fish near you, there are plenty of good suppliers online these days. Hopefully they will be cleaned and scaled before you get them.

INGREDIENTS

– 4 whole bream, about 350g each, cleaned, trimmed and scaled – 2 garlic cloves,

crushed

– 1 dried red chilli,

crumbled

– 100g walnuts, chopped, plus a few more to finish the dish, toasted

– 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve

– juice of ½ lemon, plus

wedges to serve – 2 tsp pomegranate

molasses

– 2 tsp honey

– 30g coriander leaves,

chopped

– 100g pomegranate seeds, plus more to serve

METHOD

Heat the oven to 200C/ 190C fan/gas mark 6. Wash the fish inside, making sure you get rid of any blood. Pat dry.

Mix everything else together to form a stuffing. Season and taste. The mixture should be quite sour.

Make two diagonal slashes on each side of each fish. Lay them in either one or two lightly oiled roasting tins, depending on their size.

Season inside the fish. Put the stuffing into them. Season the outside and drizzle with a little extra olive oil. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Check the flesh at the thickest part for doneness. It should be white, not at all glassy. If the fish need more time, return them to the oven for another few minutes,

Transfer to warm plates or a single platter. Scatter with the toasted walnuts and pomegranate seeds, pour on some more extra-virgin olive oil, and serve with lemon wedges.