Rialto Restaurant & Bar

Whole Roasted Fish Under Salt with Salsa Verde

Makes 2 servings

1 teaspoon lightly toasted coriander seeds, ground
1 teaspoon lightly toasted fennel seeds, ground
1 lemon, scrubbed
Freshly ground white pepper
7 egg whites
5 cups kosher salt
1 whole 1 ½ pound fish, cleaned, but scales left on.  Rinsed and dried.
3 thyme sprigs
1 recipe celery salsa verde

Combine coriander and fennel in a bowl.  Zest the lemon with a microplane and add to the spices.  Toss well to combine.  Cut the zested lemon into thin slices.

Season the inside and out of the fish with the spice mixture and some freshly ground white pepper. Put the lemon slices, with the thyme sprigs into the cavity of the fish.

Whip the egg whites in a large bowl until foamy.  Stir in the salt.

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Lay a cup of salt on a baking pan.   Lay the fish on top.  Adjust the position of the salt and add more if necessary to ensure the fish sits completely on the salt.   Cover with the remaining salt.  Pat the salt to form a smooth sealed casing.

Bake 30-40 minutes.  Check the temperature of the fish.  It should read 120°
Remove from the oven and let sit 5 minutes.  Crack open the salt shell carefully by tapping with the back of a spoon.  Remove the top layer of salt.

Working carefully, remove the fillets from the salt crust.  First remove the skin and then the top fillet and put on a plate.  Pick up the bone and discard.  Carefully run a spatula between the bottom fillet and the skin and lift the fillet onto the plate.  Remove and remaining bones.

Serve with celery salsa verde.

Celery salsa verde

1 ¼   cups roughly chopped parsley leaves

1/3  cups roughly chopped celery leaves

1 ½  tablespoons roughly chopped tarragon

1/3   cup chopped capers

3 anchovy fillets, rinsed and roughly chopped

Zest of ½  lemon

¾ cups  extra virgin olive oil

1 celery stalk, peeled cut into 1/8 inch dice

1 cloves garlic, microplaned

½ tablespoon  lemon juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Combine the parsley, celery leaves, tarragon, capers, anchovies and lemon zest in a food processor with ½ cup olive oil.  Pulse to a coarse paste…it should not be a smooth puree.   Transfer to a bowl.

Add the celery, garlic and lemon juice.  Season with salt pepper and mix until well combined.  Mix in the rest of the oil if necessary.  Taste and adjust seasonings.