Sea Bass with a Roasted Tomato and Pepper Herb Sauce

This is my party dish, but like almost everything I cook, it's dead easy.  What's more you can prepare this in stages, which for my lifestyle is essential.  I seem to have 1 hour windows available in my day between acting as chauffeur ferrying my children to and fro to their endless summertime activities.  How I long for the day when I will have the gift of an entire morning devoted to pottering around the kitchen, without having to referee a fight about who's wearing who's shirt or my cellphone ringing informing me I forgot to pick someone up.

My culinary heroine Ina Garten says roasting brings out the flavors of food and I agree. I used to make this with cherry tomatoes in the pan and it was lovely, but roasting them and adding a few other ingredients really does make it special.  Make the sauce in advance then you only have to and cope with the fish at the last minute.



Ingredients;

Sea Bass fillets 
Olive oil
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
salt and pepper
1 lemon, juice and zest

For the sauce

1 onion
1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
2-4 large tomatoes cut in half (horizontally)
2-3 cloves of garlic (in their skins)
salt and pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Fresh oregano

Heat the oven to 425F

Place all the ingredients in a large roasting pan.  Pour over the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and squeeze over the juice of a lemon.  Mix to combine and place in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour. 



Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes or so.

Squeeze the garlic out of it's skin (discard skin) and place in a food processor with the other ingredients and blitz until you have a smooth sauce.

This can be kept in the fridge until later or used immediately.

Pat the fish dry and season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over a little lemon zest.

Heat the butter in a non-stick pan until bubbling.

Place the fish in the bubbling butter at a medium-high temperature and cook for 2 minutes or until golden, flip the fish over and cook for a further 2 minutes.  Add the lemon juice and spoon the foaming butter and juice over the fish as it cooks. 

If your fillets are thick and are not cooked through, remove the pan to the oven for approx 5-10 minutes. 

To serve, place a couple of tablespoons of sauce on a plate, place a fillet of fish on top and sprinkle over some chopped oregano (or your favorite fresh herb) and a slice of lemon.

This is lovely with a nice chilled glass of Pinot!