Fish in a Fragrant Crust

All the preparations for this dish can be made in advance, and the cooking itself will require no effort and take minimal time. Even a novice housewife will be able to cope with this recipe, because it is very easy to cook.

First of all, you need to prepare the flavorful breadcrumbs under which the fish will be baked. To do this, mix breadcrumbs, chopped parsley, salt, spices, grated cheese, and dried garlic, and stir. It is desirable for the breadcrumb to not be too small, so you can confidently grind a piece of stale white bread in a blender, adding parsley to it. You can use a mixture for fish, Italian or Provençal herbs as spices. I use dry garlic, it has a more delicate taste and aroma, but you can also use a fresh garlic clove. It is best to chop it together with the bread and parsley. I use Grano Padano cheese, grated finely, but you can use any hard cheese. You can place the breadcrumb in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator and store it for 1-2 days.

Prepare the fish fillet. I took zander, but you can choose any other fish according to your taste - white or red. I always prepare the fillet in advance when I clean the fish before freezing it. I immediately vacuum it with pieces of the desired size, removing all the bones beforehand. Therefore, before cooking, I just need to thaw the bag with fish and blot the pieces with a paper towel. If necessary, cut the fish into portions, remove large bones, and blot excess moisture. Grease the baking dish with vegetable oil and place the fish fillet in a single layer.

Brush the fish fillet with sour cream, season with salt and spices according to your taste. At this stage, you can cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate it.

Before serving, all you have to do is place the fish in the oven and bake it, sprinkling it with the prepared breadcrumb. Keep in mind that when using Parmesan or similar cheese, you need to put small pieces of butter on top of the breadcrumb (about 30 grams in total). If you use regular hard cheese, you can skip this step, but in my opinion, it is tastier with butter.

Bake the fish at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes. When the kitchen is filled with a garlic-butter aroma, it's time to take out the fish with a fragrant crust from the oven.

Serve the fish hot. If you know that there won't be any time to bake it before the guests arrive, or the oven will be occupied, you can prepare this dish ahead of time and simply reheat it before serving.