Recipes to Rival: Whole fish Baked in a Salt Crust

I'm horribly late but this recipe was wonderful and I had to share it with you !!

The only change I made to the recipe was adding some finely chopped parsley to the salt mixture .

I've used a 650 gr. Bass and as you can see there wasn't any left for photos ....

Whole Fish Baked in a Salt Crust
Seafood alla Siciliana, by Toni Lydecker

Lemon slices
Several sprigs of flat leaf parsley
1 sea bass or other suitable whole fish, about 1.5 pounds, cleaned and scaled
4 cups sea salt or kosher salt
3 egg whites
Extra virgin olive oil
Lemon wedges

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Tuck the lemon slices and parsley sprigs into the cavity of the fish.

Combine the salt, egg whites, and 1/4 cup water in a bowl, mixing well until the salt has the consistency of damp sand. (If the mixture feels too wet, add more salt; if too dry, stir in a bit more water).

Line a large rimmed baking sheet (or any other baking dish) with foil or parchment paper. Using half of the damp salt, form a bed for the fish. Place the fish on top, and pack the remaining salt over it to form a covering.

Bake the fish to an internal temperature of 135 - 140 degrees, about 25 minutes. (You can just poke an instant read thermometer right through the salt, into the fish). Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

With the back of a wooden spoon, crack and remove the hard, pale brown crust of salt. Remove the skin and fillet the fish. Serve with your best olive oil and lemon wedges.