Here we are with another beautiful Zander from Balaton lake 🙂

In the previous recipe we made fillets from it and cooked in a pan, this time instead we are going to cook the whole fish in the oven, with an old and simple technique, which is very efficient 🙂

Cooking “al Cartoccio” requires to cook our fish in an aluminium foil, in this way the foil holds the  moisture inside to steam the food, preserving very well all the aromas and keeping the flesh of the fish nicely wet.

Of course, this technique fits with other fish too, I use to do it also with gilt-head bream, seabass, turbot, dentex and many others (but not the oily fish).

Moreover, I’m going to use tomatoes, olives and herbs, but you can use other vegetables too, or also the one with only lemon-garlic-rosemary-sage is very good.

Let’s see the recipe!

INGREDIENTS (4 people):

• 1 zander/walleye of about 1200/1400g
• 10/12 cherry/piccadilly tomatoes
• 10/12 black olives (or more if you want 🙂 )
• 2 cloves of garlic
• rosemary
• sage
• thyme
• salt
• pepper
• extra virgin olive oil

1. First of all, clean the fish, remove all the internal organs and the scales, and wash perfectly all the blood away.
2. Then, to avoid breaking the foil and/or to avoid the liquids to come out later, we already prepare everything on the baking sheet…so, put the aluminium foil on the baking sheet, add on it also a baking paper for extra protection (and to better avoid the fish to attach on the bottom), and spread some oil on all the surface were we are going to lay the fish: this will avoid to have it attached on it. Then, lay the fish down.
3. Now, inside the belly of the fish put some oil (spread it with your fingers on all the inside belly surface), the 2 cloves of garlic (peel them before), one sprig of rosemary, 3/4 sage leaves and some salt.
4. Cut the tomatoes and the black olives in half, and put them around the fish.
5. Take some other rosemary, sage and the thyme, and chop finely all of them together, then put this herbs mix on the fish and on the vegetables too. You can add also some pepper in powder if you would like.
6. Finish adding some other oil on all the fish and the vegetables, and close the package very well, there must be any hole open.
7. Put in the oven (oven that you previously heated at 190/200 °C), and cook at static mode for about 35 minutes. The time can be different depending on the fish size: the bigger is the fish, and more time you’ll need to cook it (actually is more about the thickness than about the weight). In my case it was a zander of 1300g (clean), I took it out after 35 minutes, but since on the pectoral fin area it was not perfectly cooked yet, then I put the fish back in the oven with the aluminium foil open, at fan-assisted mode (170/180 °C) for other 6/7 minutes. So you have to control well, always 🙂 every fish is different 🙂
8. When it’s ready, remove the flesh helping yourself with a spoon, and serve it together with the tomatoes and the olives, and why not, add also a drizzle of cold extra virgin olive oil on everything (and salt, if you want) 🙂 I also prepared apart some grilled vegetables (zucchini, eggplants and spring onion), but also some potatoes or a fresh salad are perfect too with this recipe 🙂
9. Enjoy with a dry white wine, or sparkling wine too 😉

Calories (average man): 20′ running / 25′ cycling / 40′ wood cutting 😀

Calories (average woman): 25′ running / 30′ cycling / 50′ wood cutting 😀