Pan Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Preparing an elegant piece of fish has never been easier. This is the ultimate dish when guests need to be impressed and time is limited! This perfectly seared Chilean sea bass with a spicy roasted red pepper sauce is just what the chef ordered!
On a random weekend this summer our friends Tanya and Bo, invited my husband and I over for a very last minute BBQ. Considering I am usually the one who invites people to gatherings at my house, I was thrilled to be a guest and gratefully accepted.
Tanya and Bo also happen to be two of my favorite friends to party with. Tanya is the creator of one of my favorite Roasted Eggplant Salad recipes. She is a gem 🙂
Upon entering their house I was ushered into the kitchen by my friends and told to unwrap a “package”. The salty, fresh ocean smell that traveled into my nose as I opened the package immediately intrigued me. Inside the package was…get ready for this…10 POUNDS of fleshy, white Chilean Sea Bass.
“Bo, who are you planning on feeding with this? There are 6 of us! ”
“Don’t worry the rest will be stopping over just in time for the food.” Bo proclaimed. Naturally I thought, that’s how we roll. At their house people trickle in all throughout the night…
My friends both looked at me with hope in their eyes and said, “Can you do something with this? We wanted a good piece of fish for dinner but when we brought it home we had no clue what to do with it.” I smiled, accepted the offer and escorted them out of the kitchen so that I could create our dinner.
As a side note, Chilean Sea Bass is not sea bass at all, its correct name is Patagonian Tooth Fish and it lives in the cold waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific. It ranks as one of the higher priced fishes but the flavor payoff is well worth the extra bucks.
With a fish this beautiful I find that using simple flavors that enhance the fish’s natural sweetness and texture is the only way to go. I decided to pan roast the fish because it combines the best of both worlds: the pan sear allows for a crispy and brown exterior and the oven finishes it off quickly while sealing in all the juices. But I also love some heat and sweetness combined with that delicate flesh.
***By the way I have a great tutorial on pan searing fish right here***
We already had some grilled peppers so I just combined it with a few extra aromatics. A simple but very delicious dish put smiles on my friends’ faces and left them asking for the recipe…so here it is, my fish tale of a Chilean sort.
Pan Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Description
Preparing an elegant piece of fish has never been easier. This is the ultimate dish when guests need to be impressed and time is limited! This perfectly seared Chilean sea bass with a spicy roasted red pepper sauce is just what the chef ordered!
Ingredients
- 2 Pounds of Chilean Sea Bass
- 3 Garlic Cloves (Minced)
- 1 shallot (sliced)
- 1 red pepper (sliced)
- ½ a cup of water
- 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
- A pinch of red pepper flakes (more if preferred)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450-degrees. Pour oil into a pan and heat on high.
- Once the oil heats up, place the fish into the HOT pan and allow to cook for five minutes. Turn over onto the other side and cook for 4 minutes.
- Place pan into the preheated oven for 5 minutes.
- Pour in some olive oil into another pan and turn the heat to medium high.
- Add shallots, garlic, red pepper flakes and sliced red pepper. Cover with lid and cook over medium heat until lightly browned and soft; about 5-7 minutes.
- Remove pan from the oven and place fish on a serving plate, tented with foil.
- Place the red pepper mixture into a blender or food processor and add in balsamic vinegar, salt and black pepper. Whizz it all up until super smooth. Taste for seasoning.
- Spread the coulis on a plate and serve fish directly on top. Serve with a wedge of lemon if desired.
- Category: Fish and Seafood
- Cuisine: American Classic
Oh my goodness, Mila, if I saw this on a restaurant menu I would choose it without hesitation – looks like you got the cooking of that fish nailed!! Looks pretty easy, too, but so impressive.
P.S. Sorry – just realised I commented twice on your cabbage roll recipe. Ooops!!!
Thank you honey!!! It’s super easy too!!!
What could I serve with this as a side veggie?
Carrie my asparagus would be a huge hit!!! https://girlandthekitchen.com/lemon-parmesan-asparagus/
Nevermind on The water question,, but i would suggest putting the peppers in the pan first since they take a little longer to soften up whereas the garlic can burn easily.
I would just love to be served that for dinner! It looks perfectly cooked and so luscious too 😀
Thanks Lorraine 😉 it tots is!
This sounds amazing! Question: In step four should you be heating a second pan? I just started reading your blog and I’m loving it!
Kelly
Yes YES!!! Heat up ANOTHER pan 🙂 Thank you for stopping over! Glad to have you here!
Looks incredibly delish – always happy have more fish in my diet.
Thank you!!! I recently started adding in more fish as well 🙂
Hello, when you say Roasted Red Pepper in the name, are you using jarred roasted red pappers? Or are you grilling or oven roasting fresh red bell peppers?
If you read the recipe and the post I talk all about it 🙂 Thanks!
These photos are absolutely stunning. Nobody could say they didn’t cause instant hunger!
Awwww thank you so much Maureen!!!
Oh, my mouth is watering right now! Looks just perfect! I’m going to try it for sure!
Yay!!!! Love it!!! I love when my fellow bloggers tell me they are going to try out my recipes 😉
This looks delicious. We are definitely going to try it! Will let you know how it goes. However, I have a question (hoping it is not too dumb of a question, but being a novice chef, I am asking anyways). When you say “red pepper” are you talking red bell pepper or red pepper that looks like a chili pepper?
Hi there!!! OF course it is not a stupid question! It is sweet red pepper, but if you like to kick it up a notch I do not see a reason why you cannot throw in some chilis 🙂
Thank you!
this does look good. where does the water come in on the recipe? blender stage or before? also, can you use stock instead of water?
Hey Chris!!! It’s for thinning out the sauce if you should need it!
i made this tonight for dinner… OMG amazing!!
Everyone ate every last scrap.. so easy and so tasty!
What an incredible comment!!!! Thank you! So glad it went over well 🙂
I had to pop in and tell you I made this last night. My family and I LOVED it – so good! Thanks for the easy recipe!
Anna thank you so much for coming by and telling me!!! I appreciate it! I am so glad that it was such a hit!
This was AMAZING! The fish was perfect. My sauce came out pinkish – maybe from adding water, but it was so fantastic! We made brown rice to sop it up. Can’t wait to make it again! Perfect blend of flavors. I was also hesitant about not salt or peppering the fish, but it had so much flavor and the olive oil gave it a great fry.
I am so very happy for you!!! I love this dish because of how easy it is to actually put together and how fancy it looks 🙂
Making this for the second time. First was a hit and will definitely be favorite! Delicious!
Yay!!! So glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this spectacular recipe! This is hands down one of the best fish dishes I’ve ever made at home, and the fish together with the veggie side dish I made and the gorgeous coulis all played up looked like we had come home to a restaurant dinner not just something that was whipped up in our kitchen. I’m a pretty darn good cook but this made me feel like a chef!
Sorry for the delay this went to junk! I am go glad you guys enjoyed!
This was amazing. The fish was perfectly cooked. Def will make again.
Oh yay! I am so glad!
thank you for such a delicious and wonderful recipe.hats off.
So so kind of you to say!