🐟 Orata al forno (baked sea bream)
Orata al forno is whole sea bream baked on a bed of sliced potatoes with cherry tomatoes, black olives and capers. The fish stays moist and flaky while the potatoes soak up its juices and the briny olives and capers season everything. It is a simple, classic Italian coastal main course served straight from the baking dish.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 whole sea bream (about 400 g each), cleaned
- 400 g potatoes, thinly sliced
- 250 g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 50 g black olives
- 1 tbsp capers, rinsed
- 2 garlic cloves, parsley
- 3 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper
Method
- Heat the oven to 200 °C. Toss the potatoes with 2 tbsp oil and salt and bake in a dish for 20 minutes.
- Season the fish inside and out and fill the cavity with garlic and parsley.
- Lay the fish on the potatoes, scatter the tomatoes, olives and capers around and drizzle with the remaining oil.
- Bake for 20–25 minutes until the flesh flakes from the bone.
- Fillet at the table and serve with the vegetables and juices.
How to make it lighter
- 1 tbsp olive oil ≈ 120 kcal, so measure it rather than pouring freely.
- Use fewer potatoes and more tomatoes or add courgette slices.
- The fish itself is lean — keep the portion of fish generous and the potatoes modest.
History
Sea bream has been prized around the Mediterranean since antiquity, and baking it with potatoes is a home-cooking standard along the Italian coast, especially in the south.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Orata al forno (baked sea bream) and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →