Recipe — Wood Oven Baked Whole Fish

Simple meals, cooked over a flame – our summer mantra when it comes to entertaining.

Our go-to wood fire baked whole fish with chimichurri. A favourite when entertaining on a summer's night and a hero at our Christmas table.

Recipe Serves 4-6

Fish

2 800 gm whole snapper or similar sustainably caught white fish
2 lemons
Handful of parsley, roughly chopped.
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp each quality sea salt & cracked pepper, or to taste

Chimichurri

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 bunch coriander, finely chopped
1 tbs fresh oregano, finely chopped
½ red onion, finely diced
1 tbs fresh red chilli, finely chopped
3 - 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ c extra virgin olive oil
½ c red wine vinegar
½ tsp quality sea salt or to taste
¼ tsp cracked pepper or to taste

Instructions

Prepare wood fire oven or preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Finely chop the parsley, coriander, oregano, garlic, chilli and onion and place in a bowl.
Add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, sea salt and pepper to taste and mix well. Put to side.
Rinse fish to clean the inside and outside. Using a sharp knife, make 3-4 cuts on either side of the fish (not too deep).
Drizzle olive oil over the fish and season with salt and pepper, making sure to get into the cuts.
Slice one whole lemon. Place slices inside the fish with parsley. Cut the other lemon in half.
Place fish and lemon halves onto an oven proof dish or wood oven tray.
Cook fish in the wood oven (500 degrees and up) for about 15-20min turning at the half way mark so it doesn’t burn. If using an oven cook for 30 min at 250 degrees. Remember to adjust the cooking time if using larger or smaller fish.
Remove from the oven and transfer to your favourite serving dish.
Spoon the chimichurri on top of the hot fish. Serve with burnt lemon.