Ingredients
- One whole fish* (3-4 kg)
- 2 cups of bulgur (or rice)
- 1 small onion
- 1/4 cup of fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup of fresh dill
- 1/2 cup of currants (or raisins)
- 1/2 cup of pine nuts (and/or wallnuts, hazelnut)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 1 lemon
- Fresh herbs and tomato slices for garnish
Preparation and Cooking
- Scale, clean and gutt the fish and rinse inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels, and season the cavity with salt and pepper.
- To prepare the stuffing, in a large bowl, combine cooked-bulgur (or rice), finely chopped onion, parsley and dill, currants (or raisins), pine nuts, salt, and pepper and mix all well.
- Stuff the fish with the mixture. Toothpick or a small skewer may be used to close the opening of the fish if necessary. However, it is recommended to use a suitable cooking leaves for wrapping and tied with cooking string (or kitchen twine). Drizzle the fish with the remaining olive oil, and arrange the lemon slices on top of the fish.
- Oil a baking dish (such as a long clay pot with a lid) with some olive oil and place the stuffed and wrapped fish in it and cook it for 50-60 minutes at 120-180oC or until the fish is cooked (wich may be checked with a fork from outside the wrapping). Note that cooking time may vary depending on the size and thickness of the fish.
- Remove the cooked fish from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes and transfer it to a serving platter and remove the wrapping and garnish with fresh herbs and tomato slices.
Hints and Comments
- * Suitable fish for this recipe includes larger, meatier fish like carp, sea bass, salmon, red snapper or bluefish.
- Stuffed fish can be wrapped inside large fig, banana or grape vine leaves as they have a significant impact on taste, or wrapped with an aluminium foil if the leaves are available.
- Stuffed, wrapped and tied dish can be cooked in an open tray in Areas D and E without flame radiated heat and in Area H at around 120-180o
- Note that the above ingredients and mixture with addition of nuts, cinnamon, mint and prawns can be used for “Stuffed Calamari/Squid”. Since squid tubes are smaller, the stuffed squids can be packed side by side in a clay pot and sealed by the lid.
