Mistresses vied with each other to share recipes for cooking dishes from sea red fish, but simple (like hake and pollock) are ignored, they say, tasteless and dry. Only inexperienced beginners can say so, professionals know how to cook white varieties of fish, and the baking option in the oven with a vegetable pillow for this species is ideal. Will we try?
Budget recipe for white fish
For those who prefer food-saving dishes or just don’t like red varieties of fish, this fish recipe in the oven with vegetables (with photo) will seem ideal, because the white varieties fillet itself is rather dry and rather bland. A vegetable pillow, on the contrary, will make the fish juicy, soft and aromatic due to the fact that it will lie under it and, when heat treated, soak it with its own juices.
As a result, for a short period of time on the table there will be a main course and a side dish to it, which is very beneficial for people who are always busy. It is better to take fish for cooking with a small number of bones: hake, pollock or notothenia are perfect, but you can also use ordinary carp or zander.
Essential Ingredients
To prepare fish on a vegetable pillow (in the oven) according to the recipe you will need:
- one onion, carrot, sweet pepper;
- two fleshy tomatoes;
- 5 tbsp. l sour cream or mayonnaise;
- a pinch of black pepper and salt;
- 2-3 art. l odorless vegetable oil;
- 1/4 lemon
- bay leaf optional.
These proportions are given for every 600 grams of prepared fish: usually fillet or whole carcasses are used, but without a head and fins.
First stage of cooking
First you need to decide how the fish will be used: in portions or whole carcasses (if they are small). Based on this, vegetables will be located in a special way. If the carcasses are whole, then a vegetable pillow under the fish in the oven can be distributed over the entire surface of the pan, and lay the fish on top with an even layer. Portion slices are more convenient to serve, while they (along with vegetables) are conveniently baked in foil boats, which will additionally preserve a large amount of juice in the products, making them incredibly tender and mouth-watering.
It is also recommended to marinate the fish for half an hour before baking in this mixture: mix pepper and salt with lemon juice and two tablespoons of mayonnaise. If the mass seems too thick, you can add a little cool water and then coat the fish with it, putting it in a suitable dish or plastic bag. While the fish is pickling, you can start cooking a side dish.
What to do next?
In order to cook fish in the oven on a vegetable pillow, this same pillow must be created from vegetables slightly stewed in oil. To do this, peel the onion and chop into thin half rings, chop the carrots on a coarse grater, and chop the pepper into strips. Tomatoes - circles 8 mm thick. Heat a frying pan with oil, warm onion on it until transparent, then add carrots and pepper and stir, simmer for a couple of minutes. Vegetables should only slightly acquire a blush, you do not need to bring them to excessive softness, this will make the oven.
Then grease a baking sheet with oil and put prepared vegetables on it, distributing them with an even layer over the entire surface. Put tomato rings on top, and fish on them, grease the upper part with sour cream and place the baking sheet in the oven, which has already been heated to 200-220 ° C. Fish should be baked for no more than forty minutes, but more often it takes no more than half an hour.
Gourmet Option
This recipe for fish and vegetables in the oven tells about the second cooking option: portioned pieces in foil, additionally flavored with grated cheese. Can anyone stand up against a cheese crust? For each portion of fish without bones (a piece weighing 200 grams) you will need this combination of products:
- one onion and fresh tomato;
- 80 grams of hard cheese grated on a coarse grater;
- we choose the mixture of herbs for fish dishes at our discretion (if the spicy fish is not to our taste, then we can limit ourselves to salt and a small amount of black pepper).
Before putting fish in the oven on a vegetable pillow, it should be grated with seasoning, if desired, you can sprinkle with lemon juice. On a square piece of foil, located on a baking sheet, put onion chopped with the thinnest rings in the center, on it circles of tomatoes, which should be lightly sprinkled with cheese, and a piece of fish on them.
Raise the edges of the foil from all sides, turning it at the corners to form a kind of plate with sides (this is important so that the juice that will form during the heat treatment does not leak). Place the baking sheet in the oven, set the mode to 200 ° C and bake for 15 minutes. Then generously sprinkle the fish on top with grated cheese and return it to the oven for another ten minutes.
Ideas for a vegetable side dish
Vegetable pillow for fish in the oven can be varied - it depends on the person’s nutritional profile, his taste preferences. More dietary options are listed above, and those who want a more rich and satisfying side dish can use such ideas:
- Fried potatoes, cut into small sticks, lightly fry in a small amount of oil in a frying pan, put on a baking sheet, top with thin rings of onion, sprinkle with salt and pepper and lay on top pieces of fish, flavored with mayonnaise if desired. Bake for forty minutes and serve with hot sauces.
- Cut the potatoes into thin circles, zucchini and tomatoes as well. Line the baking sheet with foil and grease generously with lean oil. Put potatoes on the surface, grease the whole layer with mayonnaise, place zucchini rings on top of it, and tomatoes on them. The top layer is pieces of fish previously pickled according to the recipe described above. Those who want a feast for the stomach can fill up with grated cheese. Bake for forty minutes at 220 ° C.