How to Cook Bronzino

Among all this fall foliage, it may be difficult to remember that there are other foods to eat besides pumpkin spice-anything and hearty soups. One that is often overlooked is a formidable dish…until a home cook tries it and learns how simple it is.

Any guesses?

It is whole fish. While fish may have the feel of summer about it, cooking a whole fish is a stupendous and hearty meal with any number of tastes or presentations. It is nearly impossible to end up with dry, overcooked fish when cooking it whole because the bones help to add both flavor and moisture.

The first step in cooking a whole fish, of course, is to decide which fish. You can do this by checking what fish are in season in your area and researching where to buy them.

There are a number of locations to buy fresh and sustainable fish in this area, a few of which include Swarthmore Co-op and Hill’s Seafood (with locations in Exton, Glen Mills, Newtown Square and Media).

For my meal, I selected bronzino (read: European sea bass) and decided to prepare it with potatoes, tomatoes and olives. Full recipe and how you can too become a full fish expert below.

Recipe: Herb-Broiled Whole Bronzino with Potatoes, Tomatoes and Olives

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
  • 2 13- to 14-ounce bronzino
  • 6 fresh marjoram sprigs
  • 4 thin lemon slices, halved
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 12 whole Kalamata olives
  • 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Method Shortlist

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Toss potatoes and 1 tablespoon oil on sheet; sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper. Bake until almost tender, about 12 minutes; set aside.
  2. Maintain oven temperature. Sprinkle fish inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff each with marjoram sprigs and lemon slices. Arrange fish in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Pour in wine, 1/4 cup water and lemon juice. Drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil.
  3. Broil fish 15 minutes. Scatter olives and tomatoes around. Tuck in reserved potatoes and sprinkle with nuts. Continue to cook until fish is just opaque in center, about 20 minutes longer.

Bronzino Background & Breakdown

Bronzino is very popular in the Mediterranean, mainly because of its mild and sweet flavor and firm texture—an attractive complement to ingredients local to the region. Most typically farmed in Europe (second most farmed in comparison to salmon), bronzino is versatile, suitable to be grilled, broiled, roasted, poached, steamed, sautéed or salt baked. I opted to broil.

How to Broil Bronzino & Elaborate Play-by-Play on How to Prepare Your Seafood Feast

I purchased a pair of one-pound bronzinos. My next step was deciding which wine to use. Dry and crisp wines like Pinot Grigio are excellent for seafood. A pinot adds a fruity note as well as some acidity.

With fish and Pinot Grigio delle Venezie in hand, I returned to the kitchen. Preheat your oven. My bronzinos were already cleaned and scaled, so all I had to do was remove the fins with some kitchen shears and slit three pockets into the sides of each fish.

After patting the fish dry, I was ready to begin the rest of my prep. The first thing you learn in culinary school is “mise en place,” which translates to everything in its place. For example, if you have to chop your rosemary when you’re supposed to add it in, you’ve gone wrong.

I first sliced down my potatoes into ¼ inch thick rounds and minced up my thyme. After quartering the tomatoes, slicing the lemons and measuring the various liquids, the time to cook had come.

The first step was par-cooking my potatoes. I tossed them with thyme, salt, pepper and a bit of olive oil, then spread them on a baking sheet and let them roast about 12 minutes.

While my potatoes roasted, I prepped my fish by rubbing both the skin and the cavity with salt and pepper and stuffed the cavity with marjoram and lemon slices. The fish were then placed into a glass baking dish and I added wine, water and lemon juice and drizzled the whole concoction with olive oil.

By this time my potatoes were ready to come out of the oven and my fish went in for 15 minutes. I took the fish out to add potatoes, tomatoes and olives and sprinkle around pine nuts and returned the dish to the oven for another 20 minutes.

When the timer went off, the meal began, and it was exquisite. One bronzino could realistically serve two people, but then the striking appeal of a whole fish on your plate is lost.

As anticipated, the fish was moist and very filling and remained distinct against the hearty potatoes, tomatoes, and olives, despite possessing so delicate a flavor of its own.

It cannot be said that fish is always light fare; if you have the right recipe and the right ingredients fish can be as hearty as a bowl of chili (and substantially more healthy).