Ingredients
For the fish
1 whole Fish from Greece Pagrus (1.5kg)
1 lemon, sliced
2 kg fine salt
2-3 egg whites
A little bit of parsley
A little bit of fennel leaf
Olive oil
For the aioli
2 cloves of garlic smashed with a bit of salt
Juice from half a lemon
2 egg yolks at room temperature
200g sunflower oil
50g olive oil
Cayenne pepper
Salt
For the broccoli with pesto
Parboiled broccoli, cut into florets
500g tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
100g white almonds, sliced
Basil leaves
3 tbsp of olive oil
80g parmesan cheese
Method
For the fish
Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
In a bowl, stir the egg whites with the salt.
In an ovenproof pan, spread 1/3 of the salt & egg white mixture
Wipe the fish carefully with a paper towel. Do not remove the scales.
Stuff the pagrus with slices of lemon and the herbs and place it on the salt mixture. Place the rest of the mixture over the fish so that it is entirely covered. Bake for 25 minutes, remove from the oven and wait a further 10 minutes before cutting open and serving.
For the aioli
Using a blender beat together the garlic, lemon and egg yolks. Gradually add the oil while beating until the mixture thickens. Season it and add some saffron if you prefer a brighter colour.
For the pesto
Peel the tomatoes – boil them for 30 seconds then place them under cold water before removing the skin, seeds and juice. Cut them into small cubes. Place the garlic, almonds and basil in the blender and beat until they become a paste. Put the mixture in a bowl, add diced tomatoes, cheese and olive oil and mix everything together. Pour it over the steamed broccoli.
Cut open the salt crust and fillet the fish. Serve with the aioli and broccoli on the side.