Traditional Russian baked common bream stuffed with buckwheat

Ingredients

• 1.6 kg fresh whole common bream
• 200 g toasted buckwheat groats (kasha)
• 400 ml filtered water
• 300 g yellow onions
• 50 g unsalted butter (82% butterfat)
• 150 g smetana sour cream (20% fat)
• 2 tbsp standard refined sunflower oil (linoleic profile)
• 1 bunch fresh dill
• 1 piece fresh untreated lemon
• 1 1/2 tsp fine table salt
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns for grinding

Method

1. Pour the toasted buckwheat into a small saucepan with the water and a pinch of fine salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover tightly, lower the heat to the minimum and cook for fifteen minutes without lifting the lid, until the liquid is completely absorbed. Turn off the heat and let rest covered so the grains remain fluffy and separate.
2. Meanwhile, thinly slice the yellow onions. Melt most of the unsalted butter in a skillet over medium heat, add the sliced onions and sweat them gently for ten to twelve minutes, stirring regularly, until very tender and beautifully golden.
3. Finely chop the fresh dill, reserving a few fronds for garnish. In a bowl, mix the still-warm cooked buckwheat, the golden onions and their cooking butter, the chopped dill, the remaining unsalted butter and a few grinds of black pepper. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
4. Preheat the oven to 190 °C on convection. Carefully rinse the common bream under cold water, then pat it dry thoroughly with paper towels, both inside and out. Using a sharp knife, make shallow diagonal incisions spaced one centimeter apart along both sides, without cutting through the central bone. Rub the belly cavity and skin with fine salt, ground black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
5. Generously stuff the inside of the common bream with the buckwheat and onion filling, pressing gently to pack it in. Pin the belly opening closed using small wooden toothpicks inserted at an angle.
6. Pour the sunflower oil into the bottom of a large baking dish to grease it well. Place the stuffed common bream in the middle of the dish, scatter any leftover stuffing around it, then coat the top of the fish with half of the smetana sour cream using a pastry brush or the back of a spoon.
7. Bake on the middle rack for thirty minutes at 190 °C, until the cream begins to brown and the skin blisters. Remove the dish briefly, coat the fish with the remaining smetana sour cream and baste the sides with the cooking juices from the bottom of the dish. Continue baking for fifteen to twenty minutes, until the surface is golden and the flesh is very tender along the dorsal bone.
8. Let the dish rest for five minutes out of the oven before serving to allow the flesh to relax. Carefully remove the wooden toothpicks, sprinkle the fish with the reserved fresh dill fronds and arrange the lemon wedges on the sides. Serve immediately right from the baking dish.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

1013.2 kcal

Protein

78.84 g

Carbohydrate

23.14 g

Fat

70.06 g

Fibre

8.44 g

Calcium

319.7 mg

Iron

3.32 mg

Magnesium

232.14 mg