Roast whole fish with salsa romesco

• whole farmed sea bream↗2

  sea bass or other sustainably caught medium-size white fish, about 500g each, scaled and gutted (ask your fishmonger to …

• lemons↗2 2

  thickly sliced

• buttered or sautéed new potatoes

  to serve

• red peppers↗3 3

  deseeded and cut into quarters

• ripe red tomato↗600g 600g

  roughly chopped

• garlic clove↗1 1

  crushed

• red chilli↗1 1

  deseeded and finely chopped

• handful flat-leaf parsley↗

  stalks and leaves separated

• blanched hazelnuts↗50g 50g

  roughly crushed

• sherry vinegar↗1 tbsp 1 tbsp
• extra-virgin olive oil↗3 tbsp 3 tbsp

  plus extra for drizzling

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Heat the grill to high. Put the peppers, skin-side up, onto a baking tray and grill for about 20 mins until the skins blacken all over. Put them into a food bag, seal, then leave for 10 mins. Once cool, peel away the skins. Tear the flesh into strips. Mix with the tomatoes, garlic and chilli in a bowl. Roughly chop most of the parsley leaves and add to the bowl with the hazelnuts, vinegar and oil, then stir well. This salad ‘matures’ well, and tastes even better if you can make it a few hours ahead.

2. 2

   When ready to cook, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Rinse and dry the fish, score the flesh on each side, then put the parsley stalks and a few lemon slices into the cavities. Put a few more lemon slices in an oiled baking dish and lay the fish on top. Season the fish well, drizzle with more olive oil, scatter with remaining parsley, then roast for 20 mins, until the flesh flakes easily.

3. 3

   Serve the fish from the dish, set the bowl of salad and the potatoes alongside, then dig in.