Pan-Seared Sea Bass with Roasted Cauliflower, Silky Tomato Butter, Parmigiano, and Basil
Crispy-skinned sea bass and deeply golden roasted cauliflower, drizzled with a silky, blush-colored tomato butter made from blistered cherry tomatoes, and finished with shaved Parmigiano and fresh basil. Simple, elegant, and full of late-summer flavor.
Yield: Serves 4 · Active: 25 min · Total: 45 min · Best in North America in late summer and early fall, when cherry tomatoes are at their sweetest · Best eaten: early evening
Ingredients
Roasted cauliflower
1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Baja Gold sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Silky tomato butter
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Optional: 1 garlic clove, smashed
3 tbsp grass-fed butter
1 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Baja Gold sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Sea bass
4 sea bass fillets, skin on (5–6 oz each): black sea bass, branzino, or striped bass
Baja Gold sea salt and black pepper
1 tbsp ghee or extra virgin olive oil
Optional: 1 tbsp grass-fed butter, for basting
To finish
¼ cup freshly shaved or grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
A handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
Flaky sea salt and a drizzle of your best olive oil
Method
Roast the cauliflower. Heat the oven to 425°F. Toss the florets with the olive oil, salt, and pepper, spread them on a parchment-lined sheet pan without crowding, and roast 25–30 minutes, tossing once, until deep golden at the edges and tender inside.
Blister the tomatoes. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes (and garlic, if using) with a pinch of salt, and cook 6–8 minutes, shaking the pan now and then, until they blister, burst, and turn jammy.
Blend the tomato butter. Transfer the hot tomatoes to a blender with the butter, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and blend until completely smooth, creamy, and silky. Taste, and adjust the salt and lemon. For an extra-silky sauce, press it through a fine-mesh sieve. Keep it warm.
Sear the sea bass. Pat the fillets very dry, especially the skin, and season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the ghee in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Lay the fillets in skin-side down, and press them gently with a spatula for the first 30 seconds, so the skin stays flat. Cook 3–5 minutes, without moving them, until the skin is golden and crisp and the flesh is opaque most of the way up. Flip, add the butter (if using), and cook 1–2 minutes more, basting, until the fish just flakes.
Plate. Pile the roasted cauliflower on warm plates, and set the sea bass alongside or on top, skin-side up. Drizzle the silky tomato butter generously over the fish and cauliflower. Finish with shaved Parmigiano, torn basil, flaky salt, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Serve it with: a simple green salad, or spaghetti squash tossed in the extra tomato butter.
Swaps: Wild halibut, cod, or salmon all work in place of the sea bass. For dairy-free, blend the tomatoes with olive oil in place of the butter, and skip the Parmigiano.
Storage
The tomato butter keeps refrigerated up to 4 days; rewarm it gently, and whisk or re-blend it if it separates. The roasted cauliflower keeps up to 3 days. The sea bass is best the day it’s cooked, but keeps up to 1 day.
Nourishment Notes
Sea bass brings lean complete protein, selenium, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and omega-3s (EPA and DHA). The crispy skin carries extra omega-3s and collagen.
Cauliflower brings glucosinolates (the precursors to sulforaphane and DIM, which support estrogen metabolism), vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, and choline.
Cherry tomatoes bring lycopene, the carotenoid behind their red color. Cooking tomatoes and blending them with butter makes their lycopene much easier for your body to absorb.
Grass-fed butter brings vitamins A, D, E, and K2, CLA, and butyrate.
Raw apple cider vinegar and lemon add a bright acidity that balances the rich butter, plus vitamin C.
Parmigiano-Reggiano brings protein, calcium, and vitamin K2, and it’s essentially lactose-free.
Basil brings eugenol and vitamin K, with a fresh, sweet fragrance.
Extra virgin olive oil brings oleic acid and polyphenols.
As a circadian and seasonal food, this is a lovely early-evening dinner, best in late summer and early fall, when cherry tomatoes are at their sweetest.
For your cycle: The sea bass’s selenium, vitamin D, and omega-3s support a healthy cycle in every phase, and omega-3s are well studied for easing menstrual cramps. The cauliflower supports estrogen metabolism.
More Ways with Cauliflower
Sourcing
Sea bass — wild U.S. Atlantic black sea bass (a Seafood Watch Good Choice), responsibly farmed Mediterranean branzino, or wild striped bass, from a trusted fishmonger. Chilean sea bass is rich and buttery, but higher in mercury, so choose MSC-certified fish, and enjoy it occasionally.
Cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, and lemons — organic, from a farmers’ market (heirloom cherry tomatoes, like Sun Gold, are especially sweet)
Grass-fed butter and ghee — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows; grass-fed ghee
Raw apple cider vinegar — organic, with the mother (Bragg)
Parmigiano-Reggiano — DOP, aged 24+ months, made from raw milk by law
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated, in dark glass
Salt — Baja Gold sea salt; Maldon for finishing
— Anna aka Food Marshall