Baked Snapper with a Quick African Pepper Sauce

At least in its authentic glory, African pepper sauce is commonly served as a condiment, dip or cooking sauce to pair with grilled meats and vegetables or used in stews, giving your dish a perfect balance of heat and depth of flavour. It's most popular in West Africa, but you see other versions of this with other peppers taking centre stage across the Continent. The combination of peppers, herbs, and spices can enhance or top off almost any dish, and it is extremely versatile. I pick this over conventional hot sauce any day because it uses fresh vegetables, and you can make batches to freeze for future use.

This version provides a quick, easy and convenient way to add flavour to your fish. I used red snapper in this recipe, but you can also use halibut, sea bass, bream, tilapia, or any fish with a mild taste that will absorb all the flavours. For the pepper sauce, instead of cooking down and frying the blended vegetables on the stovetop as is typically done, I roasted the vegetables to bring the flavours out before blending them, then used the pepper mix to coat the fish while it baked.

One great thing about this sauce is that you can tailor it to your tastes and tolerance by adding more or fewer tomatoes and peppers. You can also remove the seeds from the hot peppers to take the heat down a notch. I prefer habanero peppers in terms of the heat and flavour, but you can use a range of peppers, from jalapenos to scotch bonnet. In any case, I recommend using the freshest ingredients possible. In addition, especially since peppers are part of the Dirty Dozen, try using organic peppers if you can afford them.

Yield: 4

Author: Dontmissmyplate

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Baked Red Snapper with Quick African Pepper Sauce

This succulent red snapper fish smothered in a delicious, African-inspired pepper sauce with a medley of fresh ingredients will please all you serve.

Prep time: 25 HourCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 25 H & 30 M

Ingredients

Baked Snapper

• 1 large red snapper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 2 lemon slices (optional)
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoon Royco Usavi Mix (optional)
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 2 teaspoons basil

Quick African Pepper Sauce

• 1/2 cup olive oil, and extra for roasting the peppers
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1/4 cup parsley, stems removed
• 5 large basil leaves
• 1/3 large yellow onion
• 3-4 mini sweet peppers
• 2 small habanero peppers
• 1 1/2 - 2 Roma tomatoes
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Quick African Pepper Sauce

1. Place your peppers, onion, tomato, and garlic on a baking sheet with parchment paper—season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Roast the vegetables for 25 minutes at 400F or until roasted to your desired doneness.
3. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes, then transfer to a food processor or blender. Add the ginger, parsley, basil, bouillon cube, salt, and pepper. Blend until combined, and a paste forms. Add the olive oil during this process to help smoothen the mixture.
4. Set aside while you prepare the fish.

Baked Red Snapper

1. Make sure your fish is clean, and then pat it dry with paper towels. Add the salt, pepper, garlic, herbs, and optional Royco/all-purpose seasoning.
2. Stuff the inside of the fish with the thyme, parsley, lemon and garlic.
3. Place the fish inside some foil and place it on a baking tray. Spoon the pepper sauce over both sides of the fish, ensuring it is fully coated.
4. Place the fish in the oven and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. After 15-20 minutes, remove the fish, open the foil (without burning yourself with the hot air) and baste the sauce over the fish.
5. Leave the foil open and allow the cause to continue cooking. This will help thicken and caramelize the sauce, developing the flavours further.
6. Remove from the oven and spoon some sauce into the serving dish, placing the fish on top and adding the rest of the sauce on top. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve!

Notes

• To avoid overcooking the fish, check the internal temperature after 15-20 minutes and use that to determine how much more time you need.
• If you want a thicker sauce, you can place it on the stovetop before covering the fish with it and baking.
• If you get fresh fish from the market, ensure it is cleaned and descaled.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

237

Fat (grams)

13.3 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

1.9 g

Carbs (grams)

24.9 g

Fiber (grams)

6 g

Protein (grams)

10.9 g

I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on dontmissmyplate.com should only be used as a general guideline.

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