Branzino Arrostito Con Il Mosto Di Uve All Alfonso Longo Recipes

ROASTED WHOLE BRANZINO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Set a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet.
• Cut slits into the branzino skin 1 inch apart, being careful not to cut through the spine. Stuff each slit with the garlic then drizzle the fish with oil. Season heavily with salt and pepper. Stuff the fish cavity with the lemon slices and the thyme sprigs. Transfer the fish to the wire rack and roast in the oven until the flesh is flaky and cooked through, about 14 minutes.
• Remove and discard the thyme sprigs. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

BRANZINO ARROSTITO CON IL MOSTO DI UVE ALL' ALFONSO LONGO

Steps:

• Stem half the grapes, never minding their seeds, and place them in a heavy saucepan, smashing at them with a wooden spoon, crushing them. Add the bay leaf, the raisins, and the wine and, over a medium flame, bring the mixture to a simmer. Lower the flame and cook until the wine has evaporated and the fruit has collapsed into a thick jam. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar. (Some might think to pass the jam through a fine sieve to relieve it of its debris of skins and seeds, clashing up against, though, the rusticity, the honesty of the dish.)
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Sprinkle the sea salt inside the fish and then stuff its belly with the jam. With a wooden mallet or some such instrument, crush the remaining grapes that are still on their stems and place them in a shallow terra-cotta or enameled cast-iron casserole just large enough to cradle the fish. Place the fish on top of the grapes and douse it with the red wine mixed with the olive oil.
• Roast the fish for 30 minutes, basting at least three times with the pan juices. As soon as the flesh is firm, the fish is cooked.
• Carry the fish to table in the roasting pan, serving it with spoonfuls of the juices and perhaps a rough puree of roasted fennel and a Taurasi from Mastroberardino.

BRANZINO ARROSTITO CON RAMI D' ALLORO, LIMONE, E CAPPERI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Dry the fish well with absorbent paper towels and split it in two. Place 1 bay branch or 2 rosemary branches on one side of the fish, then the slices of lemon, one overlapping the other. Strew the lemon slices with the capers and anoint the whole with sea salt and a few drops of the oil. Re-form the fish, massaging it with more of the oil and laying it in a shallow terra-cotta or enameled cast-iron casserole. Cover the fish with the remaining branch of bay or the remaining branches of rosemary.
• Roast the fish for 10 minutes, then adjust the heat to 375 degrees and continue to roast for another 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the bass emerges extremely hot.
• Remove the bass from the oven, pour over the white wine, permitting it to steam and hiss up into vapors while you carry the fish to table.
• Serve the bass with no other accompaniments save its own good juices, a bit of oven-toasted bread, and very cold white wine.

BRANZINO MEDITERRANEAN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil into a large baking pan; add onion and season with salt and pepper.
• Place the 2 cleaned fish into the baking pan and stuff each cavity with 1 lemon wedge, 1 rosemary sprig, and some of the red onion. Pour white wine and lemon juice over each fish and sprinkle with oregano. Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over the 2 fish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork, about 25 minutes. Gently slide a spatula between the bones to separate fish; remove all the bones. Serve fish on a platter and garnish with parsley and lemon wedges.