Those of you who have been to Poros and have seen where I grew up, know that my childhood home is right next to the sea. All his life, my father had at least one boat in front of our house and went fishing almost every other day. When he returned, my mother immediately cooked whatever he had caught. My parents always said: “There is no fish as delicious as fresh fish straight from the sea!” Today’s fish recipe is one that my mother made quite often in winter and that she used any fresh fish for: Psari Psito – Oven baked fish stuffed with herbs.

My father with his brothers and friends getting his boat out of the water

Me and my father with his boat

Magical old stove

During the winter we had a nice old stove in our kitchen to heat the house. I don’t know if you can remember these types of stoves, but I found them magical! This stove would not only give the kitchen and the house a constant nice and comfortable temperature (our house was not very big), you could also cook on top of it and it had an oven inside. In those days we did not have an electric oven, so this was our only oven in the house. The stove was on during the cold winter days anyway, so the oven had the right temperature to bake.

My parents and my fathers brother Niko

For a long time now, using this type of stove has been my favourite way of heating my house. When years ago my husband Rik and I were ready to move into our new house on the olive farm, my brother asked me what gift would make me happy. I asked him to find me a stove! It was not an expensive or very good-looking gift, but in the cold winter nights of the nineties I was able to make the best bean soup and stews ever (I will give you the recipes for those in some other posts).

My brother!

Baking fish in the oven

As my brother also loves fish, you will not be surprised to hear that we quite often went fishing together and baked our catch of the day in the stove. Preparing fish at home is something that many people avoid, because of their fear that the result will not be so good. I do hope you feel excited about trying this easy and nice way to bake your fish. I guarantee your Psari Psito will have a perfect taste! And baking the fish in the oven will prevent your house from smelling fishy.

Making Psari Psito – Oven-baked fish stuffed with herbs

Chose any fish you like! On this blog you see me prepare and bake sea bass. First gut and clean your fish, making sure the inside is clean and salt them inside and out. Let the fish dry as mentioned in the recipe below.

Stuff the fish with herbs and lemons

The fish is now in an oven dish. Chop the onions, dill and root fennel and cut 2 lemons in small pieces. Stuff the inside of the fish with these ingredients and the parsley and add some pepper. If you have any herbs left, you can also add these to the oven dish!

Squeeze the other 2 lemons over the fish, so they are covered in juice. Pour some beautiful olive oil on top of them and the fish is ready for the oven!

Enjoy your Psari Psito!

Do not open, turn, or touch the fish until it’s time for it to come out of the oven. Enjoy your delicious Psari Psito and let me know what you think of the recipe!

Food photography Annette Spaan
 

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