Pan Roasted Sea Bass

I was craving fish for dinner tonight and our grocery store had Chilean Sea Bass on sale this week, so pan roasted Sea Bass sounded like the perfect fit for tonight. The sea bass fillets were pan seared on one side and then flipped to cook for a couple of minutes and then the entire skillet went into the oven to finish cooking. Pan roasting is a great technique to get a wonderful color with the sear on whatever you are cooking and then finishing it off in a hot oven to cook all the way through. This method works for so many different cuts of protein and comes out perfect every time. It is a fabulous cooking technique to master.


I served the Sea Bass on a bed of sauteed mushrooms and onions and a side of mashed potatoes and wilted spinach.



Pan Roasted Sea Bass
Adapted from the Reluctant Gourmet

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup Marsala wine or white wine
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup chicken stock
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 fillets of sea bass (approximately 1 lb. total)
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
Lemon wedges for serving

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium high heat and saute the chopped onion until it's translucent.

Deglaze the pan with Marsala wine. Be careful to remove the pan from the heat when adding the Marsala to prevent the wine from igniting in your face. When most of the wine is cooked off, add the mushrooms and butter. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the mushrooms are tender.

Add the chicken stock, a little salt and pepper, and let the sauce cook down a little.

In an oven proof saute pan, heat the canola oil until it's so hot it's about to smoke. Season the fillets with salt and pepper and add to the hot pan. For fillets with the skin on, cook skin side down for approximately 5 minutes until the skin is nice and crispy. Flip and cook for 30 seconds and transfer to the hot 450 degree oven and roast for 3-4 minutes.

For skinless fillets, cook them on one side for 5-6 minutes and flip them over for another 2 minutes before transferring to the hot oven for 3-4 minutes.

On warm plate, dish out the onion-mushroom mixture and top with the pan roasted fillets. Sprinkle with a little of the chopped parsley and a squeeze of fresh lemon.


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