Branzino all'Acqua Pazza

Ingredients

• 2 whole sea bass, about 450g each, gutted and scaled
• 300g cherry tomatoes
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 small dried red chilli
• A large handful of flat-leaf parsley
• 120ml dry white wine
• 150ml water
• 60ml extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
• Crusty bread, to serve

Before you cook

• Rinse the sea bass inside and out and pat them dry.
• Halve the cherry tomatoes.
• Peel the garlic cloves and crush them lightly.
• Chop the parsley, keeping the stalks separate from the leaves.

Steps

1. Season the cavity of each fish with salt and pepper and tuck in a few parsley stalks.
2. Choose a wide pan with a lid that holds both fish side by side.
3. Lay the fish in the cold pan with the crushed garlic, the halved tomatoes and the chilli.
4. Pour over the olive oil, the white wine and the water.
5. Season the liquid with a good pinch of salt.
6. Set the pan over a medium-high heat and bring it to a lively simmer.
7. Cover the pan and cook for six minutes.
8. Tilt the pan and spoon the bubbling liquid over the backs of the fish.
9. Cover again and cook for a further six to eight minutes, until the flesh at the thickest point comes away from the bone.
10. Lift the fish onto a warm serving dish.
11. Boil the liquid uncovered for two minutes to concentrate it, crushing a few tomatoes against the side of the pan.
12. Stir the chopped parsley leaves into the broth off the heat.
13. Pour the broth over and around the fish.
14. Serve with bread, and eat the broth with a spoon.