Rick Stein’s Baked Sea Bass with Roasted Red Peppers, Tomatoes, Anchovies and Potatoes

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Tender, fresh, sea bass roasted together in one pan with lightly caramelised peppers, sweet tomatoes, salty anchovies and melt-in-the-mouth potatoes. Although this takes over an hour in the oven, it comes together very quickly, and the joy of cooking it in this way, ensures that the flavours concentrate, develop and merge as everything cooks.

Where is this recipe from?

Spectacular enough for entertaining, but quick enough for a family dinner, I have been making this Rick Stein recipe for over 20 years. I am not sure where I first saw it, possibly in a magazine. It is featured in his 100 Fish & Seafood Recipes (My Kitchen Table) which was published in 2011 but I have memories of making it well before this. I am a huge fan of Rick Stein recipes. They are bursting with flavour, exceedingly reliable, use accessible ingredients and are generally very doable for the home cook. Not too cheffy at all. This recipe is a perfect example of all of these things.

How to make Rick Stein’s Baked Sea Bass with Roasted Red Peppers, Tomatoes, Anchovies and Potatoes

Please see the printable Recipe Card below for the exact, yet condensed, quantities and instructions.

Collect all the ingredients together:

• olive oil, divided
• saffron strands
• hot water
• potatoes. I like to use a waxy potato such as Charlotte or Rattes. These potatoes have a delicate skin and rarely need peeling. Depending on the size, slice them until they are roughly 1cm thick. I used Rattes potatoes which were long and thin so I just needed to halve them horizontally. You could also use floury potatoes such as Maris Piper. These should be peeled and cut into 1 cm thick slices
• tomatoes, skinned and halved or quartered, depending on size. Use as good quality tomatoes as you can find/afford. The sweeter the better. I prefer on the vine tomatoes.
• anchovy fillets in oil, drained. I like to use the ones in a glass jar which can be re-sealed, if there are any left.
• plump garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• good quality chicken stock. Or use fish or vegetable stock, if necessary
• red peppers/capsicum, de-seeded and each one cut into 8 chunks
• fresh oregano. If you can’t find fresh oregano, sprinkle over a teaspoon of dried oregano, when you add the salt and pepper.
• fine salt, ideally sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• chilli flakes. these are optional and not in Rick Stein’s original recipe.
• whole sea bass, cleaned and trimmed. If the sea bass is too big for your pan, remove the head and tail. You can either do this yourself, or ask the fishmonger to do it for you.

How to make this fabulous fish dish:

1. Smear the base of the baking/roasting tin with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
2. Place the saffron threads in a small bowl or cup and cover with the hot water. Set aside. This is an important step because it ensures the saffron releases its colour and flavour.
3. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the potatoes. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.
4. Plunge the tomatoes into boiling water, leave for one minute and drain.
5. Peel the skin from the tomatoes and halve or quarter them, depending on size. Peel and slice the garlic cloves
6. De-seed the peppers and cut each one into 8 chunks.
7. Layer the potatoes onto the base of the pan, scatter over the anchovies, tomatoes and garlic.
8. Pour in the saffron water and stock and assemble the peppers in the dish, either side of where you will be placing the fish. Scatter over the oregano, drizzle everything with 3 – 4 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle over half of the salt and pepper and add the chilli flakes, if using.
9. Place in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
10. 5 minutes before taking the vegetables out of the oven, prepare the fish. Remove the head and tail, if necessary, and slash the skin 5 or 6 times on both sides, and on one side, slash again in the other direction to make a criss-cross pattern. Rub with the remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
11. Place in the dish, criss-cross side up, between the peppers, and pop back in the oven for a further 30 – 35 minutes, or until the fish is cooked and the vegetables are soft and lightly caramelised in places.
12. Serve the fish with the vegetables and a squeeze of lemon. A simple green salad on the side, also works well.

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.