Lemon Leaf Fish

We were recently in Positano, Italy and we had a chef come and cook for us at our Villa we rented and he cooked the most amazing meal which my family and I still talk about , This lemon leaf fish is just one of the courses we had and I have recreated it back home with great results , super easy , looks sensational and it tastes incredible

Ingredients

4 fillets of snapper or blue cod or Tarakihi
10 wash similar sized lemon leaves
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 crushed small garlic cloves
zest from 1 whole lemon
1 tbs chopped italian parsley
1 tbs chopped capers ( optional )
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup Olive Oil or more

Method

Turn oven on to 220c fan forced
Chop fish into 5 to 8 cm bites.
Wash and dry the lemon leaves and place on oven tray lined with baking paper
Place fish bites on top of the leaves
Combine the crumb, garlic, salt and pepper and zest and parsley and oil in a bowl , add more oil if necessary
You can either pan fry lightly the ingredients so the crumb is slightly golden or you can place the mixed crumb directly on top of the fish , and press down firmly ( don’t worry if some of the crumb mixture gets on the leaf )
Place in oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes so the crumb is lovely and golden and fish feels just firm

if the fish bites are quite fat just increase the cooking time but you don’t want to over cook the fish

The lemon leaf infuses the most amazing flavour into the flesh of the fish