A fillet recipe to fill

The need to cook brought me to this field. I was born in a middle-class family and my parents could not afford a babysitter to take care of my older brother and me, while my parents were at work.

We only had the option to go back home and cook for ourselves after school hours.

We had to reheat the meal that our mother would have prepared in the morning before leaving for work. Most of the times, there were eggs at lunch. I was also inspired by seeing the passion our mother had towards cooking.

Experimenting with food is fun. Once, I created several edible colognes to pair with any dish from appetizer to the dessert.

I have also crafted a menu with only black ingredients and offered it to my guest for a brief period. Currently, I’m working on a really exclusive dish with 112 components.

I love preparing Risotto with mushrooms; going in search of mushrooms during the season is one of my favourite pastimes. It might seem like a simple dish to cook but just toasting the rice grains, preparing a good broth is not enough, this is a dish that requires experience.

I was fascinated by the large fish stalls in supermarkets since my childhood, and love cooking with meat and fish.

I will be visiting Bengaluru for a cook-off session during the weekend, and look forward to trying the local cuisine there.

I’m sharing the recipe of Branzino al Cartoccio, a sea bass fillet recipe for Bengalureans.

It is one of my favourite recipes because I love fish. It is easy to make with minimal ingredients and tastes lovely.

It is one of my favourite dishes apart from Mushroom Risotto. ‘Bronzino al Cartoccio’ is flavourful and one of the first dishes I prepared when I started working as a chef.

This dish can be accompanied with a perfect wine of your choice.

Chef Roberto Zorzoli
Head chef, Romano, JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar
(Visiting chef at Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway)

Bronzino al Cartoccio

Ingredients (for 4 people)

Bronzino al Cartoccio

Chilean Seabass Fillet (180 grams each): 4 nos

Cloves of garlic (chopped): 4 nos

Cherry tomatoes: 20 nos

Eggplant (medium size): 2 nos

Red onion (medium size): 1 nos

Lemon (cut on 4 wedges): 1 nos

Olive oil: 100 ml

Pepper and salt to taste.

Basil and thyme

Method

Cut onions and eggplant into cubes that are 2x2 cm size.

Then fry them in the pan for a few minutes with olive oil, garlic, thyme and basil.

Place the vegetables that you have previously sauteed on the baking paper and place the Chilean Seabass fillets and cherry tomatoes over them.

Season with a pinch of salt and a bit of pepper.

Close the baking paper and cook the fish in the oven at 180 ° for 15 minutes.

Serve hot.