Salt Baked Bronzino with Salsa Verde

I made this recipe recently and realized I didn’t have enough salt. Kosher salt. Cheap stuff. But I did have some very expensive salt gifted by my carnivore ex boyfriend. So I used a healthy sprinkle of that, say half a cup or so, interspersed with jasmine rice and fennel seed for flavoring. I stuffed the fish with some thyme and lemon too. Previously, I didn’t have rice and only had really expensive pink salt (a different exbf, yep — I’ve been making this fish for some time) but we had oats. So I did salt, oats and fennel and it worked fine. Do it your way, it will be divine. The easiest way to impress in twenty minutes or less.Serve with salsa verde on the side. I like to toss up a yummy butter lettuce salad too with a dijon vinaigrette, 2 to 1 EVOO to apple cider vin, a healthy tbsp of dijon and some chopped herbs, season, toss, …

Salt Baked Bronzino 

1-2  egg whites
Kosher salt 
2 tbsp Fennel seed  
1 whole branzino (1 lb per person) 
Parsley sprigs
Rosemary sprigs
Sliced lemon 
Salsa verde to serve 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, mix egg white and kosher salt with fennel seed. The mixture should be a past like to create a shell over the fish, NOT too runny so be careful how much egg white you add. Place the fish on a baking sheet. Stuff with sliced lemons and herbs. Cover fish with salt paste leaving head and tail exposed. Do NOT cover head or tail. Cover belly from top to bottom completely. While fish is cooking, make salsa verde. Cook fish for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Allow to rest for at least 10-12 minutes. Crust should be golden brown. Once cooled to room temp, Crack crust and dispose of salt until fish is completely exposed. Using a spoon, remove the skin to reveal the flesh. Serve with fresh lemon and evoo or salsa verde. 

Salsa Verde

1 Head chopped parsley, stems removed 
2 anchovies, minced
1/2 shallot, minced
2 tbsp capers, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard 
Lemon juice
Lemon zest 
Olive oil 
Fresh Ground pepper 

Chop all ingredients. Add to bowl. Add dijon, lemon juice, olive oil until desired consistency. Season with fresh ground pepper.