Working with whole fish can seem intimidating, but Barbara Lynch's recipe takes the guesswork out of cooking. You'll scale and gut four whole branzino fish and remove the heads and tails. Then, stuff the cavities with lemon slices and herbs, while rubbing the outsides with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper before heading to the grill. The most important part is leaving the fish undisturbed on the grill grates until they naturally release and the skins are nice and crispy. Once the fish is cooked, the tender flesh will be fully infused with the aromatic flavors of lemon and thyme.
Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen
This recipe is an exceptionally easy, tasty lesson on grilling branzino. For greater ease, have your local fishmonger scale, gut, and remove the heads and tails at the store, which will make stuffing the cavities of the already cleaned fish much simpler so you can get cooking right away.
Once the fish is ready to go, ensure the grill is adequately preheated before grilling the branzino directly on the grate over high heat. Cook the branzino, moving it as little as possible, until the skin is brown and crispy, about seven minutes per side. You should only need to flip the fish once; otherwise, you may risk rupturing the delicate skin.
Ingredients
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4 (1-pound) whole branzino, scaled and gutted, heads and tails removed
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1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
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1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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4 thyme sprigs
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4 bay leaves
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2 lemons, 1 thinly sliced, 1 cut into wedges
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1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
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Parsley, finely chopped, for serving
Directions
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Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Season the fish cavities with salt and pepper. Stuff each cavity with a thyme sprig, a bay leaf, and 2 lemon slices. Rub the outside of the branzino with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
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Grill the branzino over high heat, turning once, until browned and crisp and just cooked through, about 7 minutes per side. Serve right away, passing salt, lemon wedges, and parsley at the table.
![Lemon-Stuffed Grilled Branzino](https://www.foodandwine.com/thmb/Sj_GFG_ln6ls7HGIoSiqb67-YRw=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Lemon-Stuffed-Grilled-Branzino-FT-RECIPE0324-6d0a73fe0ad743309605df37066a9191.jpg)
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