SEABREAM ACQUA PAZZA – Recipe by Piero Benigni – The kind of cooking seabream “acqua pazza”, meaning “mad water”, is typical of the Neapolitan region and very popular in Italy. Simple and easy, it is suitable for seabream, sea bass and other similar fish, both in the oven and in a pan.
Ingredients for 2 persons
- 1seabream, fresh (about 18 oz)
- 8cherry tomatoes (about 10 oz)
- 4 clovesgarlic
- 1 sprigparsley
- q.s.dry white wine
- q.s.salt
- q.s.olive oil
- q.s.pepper
- 1lemon
For your seabream acqua pazza you’ll need
- Oven
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Baking Dish
Preparation of the seabream acqua pazza
If possible, have the fishmonger scale and clean the seabream. Cut the fins but leave the tail, which will show when the fish is cooked. Wash it inside and out then dry it. Put inside a little salt, a clove of garlic, a slice of lemon, a little parsley and a drizzle of olive oil. Put it in a baking dish slightly larger than the fish and surround it with the chopped tomatoes, the garlic cloves divided in two and a few parsley leaves.
Prepare half a glass of a mixture (in equal quantities) of water and dry white wine and pour it into the pan. The liquid on the bottom should have a thickness of about 3/8” (8mm), that is as much as a cigarette or a pencil. Put in a preheated static oven at 350 °F (175 °C) for 30 to 40 minutes, depending from the oven and the size of fish. During cooking, the liquid should simmer. Never touch or turn the fish.
The fish is ready when the skin is scorched and the tail comes off by pulling it effortlessly. Clean it and serve it with what is left of the cooking liquid, sprinkled with lemon and seasoned with olive oil and pepper if you like. Enjoy your meal!
This dish can also be prepared in a pan. Choose one a little bigger than the fish and place it as already explained above with tomatoes, garlic, parsley and cooking liquid. Cook the sea bream covered for 15 minutes, then uncover it and finish cooking. The liquid should always simmer gently. Never touch or turn the fish.
The seabream acqua pazza can be kept for 2 days in the refrigerator in a closed container or protected with plastic wrap. Provided you did not use a frozen fish, it can also be frozen and lasts 3 months in the freezer.
Prepare half a glass of a mixture (in equal quantities) of water and dry white wine and pour it into the pan. The liquid on the bottom should have a thickness of about 3/8” (8mm), that is as much as a cigarette or a pencil. Put in a preheated static oven at 350 °F (175 °C) for 30 to 40 minutes, depending from the oven and the size of fish. During cooking, the liquid should simmer. Never touch or turn the fish.
The fish is ready when the skin is scorched and the tail comes off by pulling it effortlessly. Clean it and serve it with what is left of the cooking liquid, sprinkled with lemon and seasoned with olive oil and pepper if you like. Enjoy your meal!
This dish can also be prepared in a pan. Choose one a little bigger than the fish and place it as already explained above with tomatoes, garlic, parsley and cooking liquid. Cook the sea bream covered for 15 minutes, then uncover it and finish cooking. The liquid should always simmer gently. Never touch or turn the fish.
The seabream acqua pazza can be kept for 2 days in the refrigerator in a closed container or protected with plastic wrap. Provided you did not use a frozen fish, it can also be frozen and lasts 3 months in the freezer.
Ready for the oven
The seabream at the end of cooking
The position in the oven