Serves 4
Prep time | 10 minutes
Cooking time | 40 minutes (for 900g snapper)
Ingredients
• ½ cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped.
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 lemon, zested and thickly sliced
• ¾ cup pistachios (shelled)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• pinch of salt
• 1 medium snapper
• ½ cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 lemons, cut into wedges
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Combine the parsley, garlic, lemon zest, pine nuts, half the olive oil, salt and pepper in a blender to make a thick paste.
3. On the bench lay out a large piece of wide foil or two normal sized pieces folded to join in the middle. Cover foil with extra-wide baking paper or two normal sized pieces folded to join in the middle.
4. Lay the snapper in the middle of the paper and score deeply 3-4 times on each side. Work half of the pistachio paste into the cuts and place lemon slices in the cavity. Drizzle the remaining oil over the two fish. Gather the foil around each fish to form a parcel that is loose but has no gaps in the joins.
5. Place in oven for 40 minutes.
6. The cooking time will depend on a number of things – how many times you open the oven to check it and/or the thickness of the fish. To check, carefully open the foil at the top and, using a fork, check that a small piece of the fish in its thickest part moves away from the bone.
7. Serve the fish with any reserved juices and some fresh lemon wedges on a platter and allow diners to help themselves. When the flesh on top of the skeleton has been served, the skeleton can be lifted off to allow access to the lovely soft meat underneath.
