This holiday season I am always trying to do recipes that are simple yet impressive for Christmas dinner or lunch. Well this Bresaola wrapped fish recipe is definitely that!
You look at it you feel that is that kind of elegant dinner that need all day to prepare but you are wrong again. This meal take less than 30 minutes at maximum to make. It couldn’t be easier.
And of course we are not compromising on the taste especially for Christmas dinner menu, the flavors in this dish are as just amazing as it looks.
Bresaola, Mediterranean lemony salsa with this light moist Nile perch fish fillet may not seems that a combination you hear about every day, but that combo is just exceptionally good!
One of my favorite things about this recipe is the texture: “a nice crispy exterior and a light flaky interior”, how crispy the Bresaola gets when cooked is just amazing!
Not only this recipe is very simple and delicious, it is also healthy!
Your Christmas feast will be elegant and easy with this amazing main dish to add on the table! And it can be wrapped in advance and prepared to bake in oven right before dinner to serve it warm!
Bresaola Wrapped Perch fish with Mediterranean salsa
Serve 12-14pieces
INGREDIENTS:
For the Mediterranean salsa:
- 2 large roma tomato, diced small
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ¼ cup pitted black olives, roughly chopped. *
- 1 cup chickpeas, cooked and drained. *
- Pinch of salt , to taste
- Zest of half a lemon
- Juice of half a lemon
- Pinch of chili flakes
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. herb mix ( ¼ tsp. dry oregano, ¼ tsp. dry thyme, ¼ tsp. dry basil, ¼ tsp. dry rosemary)
- Pinch if chili flakes , to taste
For the wrapped fish:
- 2 “nile perch” fish fillet **
- 20 thin slices of Bresaola (150 g approx.)
- Dry tomato
- Black pepper for seasoning
INSTRUCTIONS:
Start with the salsa first to give time to soak in the seasoning and absorb the flavors more
For the Mediterranean salsa:
- Simply toss all the salsa ingredients in a bowl
- Let it stand for 20 minutes in room temperature so the chickpeas and other ingredients absorb the flavors mixture.
- You can adjust the salt and chili flakes taste according to your taste after the 20 minutes is done so you know exactly how much you need to add after all the flavors had the time to settle.
For the wrapped fish:
- Preheat oven on 170 C◦ and Brush a baking pan with some olive oil.
- Pat the fish fillets completely dry with paper towel.*
- Sprinkle with a little bit of black pepper and skip the salt because the Bresaola is salty.
- Now cut each fillet first in the middle rib line, than divide each part to 4 equal parts. You will have 8 parts per fillet at total.
- Now for the edge parts , from the tail sides will be thinner than the middle one , for that we will use each 2 sides together for one wrap instead of using one per wrap like the middle ones. (you can check this small cutting illustration below to help you understand better)
- Wrap the fillet pieces with one flattened piece of dry tomato with the Bresaola slices, using three slices per wrap like the steps in the picture below. You need to wrap it them tightly but gently so that you do not tear the Bresaola slices. Repeat the same process till you have all the wraps ready.
- Line in the greased baking tray and Bake in oven for 15 minutes until fish is cooked.
- Sprinkle some lemon juice just right after you remove from oven.
- Allow to sit for 5 min before serving with the salsa on the side.
- Enjoy!
NOTES:
*you can use any kind of black olive I usually use the kalamata olives.
*for the chickpeas you can buy an already cooked pan, but I prefer to buy it uncooked and cook a big batch and store in the freezer for later use , I use chickpeas a lot.
*if you can’t find any perch fish fillet you can choose any white fish fillet that is similar it will go well.
*I use fresh fish fillet in this recipe because it is always better to cook with I just pat to dry from the extra moist that the fillet release once putted in room temperature. I highly recommend to stick with fresh fillet for better results and healthier choice.