South Coast Snapper with Charred Vegetables and Beach Greens - Chef Recipe by Nicola Coccia

Ingredients

"We have a Summer fish in Italy very similar to snapper called ‘dentice'. When we were kids we'd spend the whole summer on the coast with the family, fishing and grilling our catch on the fire." ~ Nicola Coccia.

1 x 800 g snapper
1 lemon, sliced
1 leek, roughly chopped
1 red capsicum, quartered
1 bunch warrigal greens
20 sprigs samphire
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

Method

Start by building a hot fire. Burn the fire for about an hour to create hot embers ready for cooking.

Prepare the Snapper:

Score the skin with a sharp knife, coat with olive oil and sea salt, and stuff the cavity with half the lemon slices. Place into a fish basket and rest over a hot part of the fire. Cook for 7-10 minutes on each side or until the fish is just cooked through.

While the fish is cooking, coat the remaining lemon, leeks, capsicum, warrigal greens (reserving some fresh for garnish), and samphire in olive oil. Place into another fish basket and char over the fire for 3 minutes on each side.

To Serve:

Remove the snapper from the fish basket and arrange onto a large plate. Scatter over the charred vegetables and beach greens and finish with some fresh warrigal greens, sea salt, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Credits: Recipe as featured in Farm to Flame: Cooking without rules in the Bistro Officina kitchen (2018), the first cookbook from the twice-hatted Bowral restaurant. Click here to purchase.