Pesto Sea Bass: A Healthy Midweek Fish Recipe

This vibrant pesto sea bass is a delicious and healthy way to eat fish. The nutty coriander pesto with chilli, garlic and lemon gives it a great flavour! It's perfect for a midweek fish supper.

A lighter fresher pesto recipe

Don't you just love pesto? I've made lots of different pestos over the years. Some of them have featured on this blog. Some of them haven't. Until now they have all had one thing in common. CHEESE!

This coriander and cashew nut pesto is the first pesto I've made without cheese and it is so good. I was aiming for a lighter and fresher dairy-free pesto recipe and I've definitely managed it.

Because it doesn't have cheese in, it's a healthier pesto recipe that's great for anyone who follows a vegan or dairy free diet.

Ingredients for pesto sea bass

To make the cashew and coriander pesto you'll need:

• Coriander leaves and stalks - There is so much flavour in the stalks as well as the leave so there's no reason not to use them.
• Cashew nuts - Cashew nuts make this pesto really creamy but you can replace them with another nut or seed.
• Garlic - Nothing beats fresh garlic for pesto!
• Green chilli pepper - It adds a lovely kick which is brilliant in this pesto. I used fresh jalapenos.
• Lemon juice - I always prefer to use a freshly squeezed lemon as is so much more vibrant than lemon juice from a bottle.
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Seasoning - A little salt and black pepper

And if you are putting it on sea bass then you'll also need:

• 600 g sea bass fillets

How do you make coriander cashew nut pesto

Do check out the recipe card further down the page too. Basically making this dairy-free pesto is just a matter or putting everything in a food processor or blender and blitzing till smooth. Do check the consistence and flavour after blending though. Chilli peppers vary in heat so you may want to add more if you want a spicier pesto. You may need a looser texture so add more lemon juice or oil.

If you are serving the pesto on sea bass or another fish then cook the fish skin side down (to get crispy fish skin!) in a frying pan until the flesh looks almost cooked. Then spread the pesto on top and put the pan under the grill to finish cooking the fish from above.

What to serve with this sea bass topped pesto

I think this sea bass is delicious with salad or grilled vegetables. Like all fish, it works well with chips too or new potatoes. Why not serve it with these air fryer fries?

Do you need Cheese in pesto?

This pesto works brilliantly without parmesan, especially as it's served with fish. The fish stays moist as it cooks and the pesto makes it so tasty.

You just don't need any cheese in this pesto. The flavours from the lemon, garlic, chilli pepper and coriander are perfect for the sea bass. Or any other white fish you choose to use. Of course, if you want to add some parmesan, feel free!

Can you adapt this pesto sea bass recipe?

If you can't get hold of sea bass then any other white fish would work well for this recipe. It's also delicious on cod and sea bream. In fact, I think it would be great on salmon too!

If you want to adapt the pesto then please do. You can make a more traditional pesto with basil and pine nuts. Or just use different nuts. I often make variations of pesto and the recipe just depends on what I have in the kitchen on that particular day!

Pesto is great for meal prep

When I first created this cashew and coriander pesto recipe I was focusing on recipes where I could repurpose the leftovers into another meal. The idea was to create a double dinner recipe.

Of course, pesto is just brilliant for preparing in advance and because of that, it's also great for using in different recipes once you've prepared it.

Two ways to use coriander pesto

I chose to make two delicious dinners with coriander pesto. For my first meal of pesto crusted sea bass I wanted the pesto to have quite a thick consistency without too much oil so it would coat the fish like a crust. That way it keeps the fish moist but also adds lots of pesto flavour.

My second way to use the coriander pesto was one pasta. Yes I know, not very original but such a tasty and delicious dinner!

How to use the leftover pesto

There are all kinds of ways to use leftover pesto. As I said, I used the leftover pesto on pasta but here are a few other ideas:

• Swirl it onto soup
• Use it on a pizza
• Put it in a sandwich - with other ingredients too!
• Use it as a salad dressing - like in this quinoa and chicken pesto salad!

Recipe

Coriander Pesto Crusted Sea Bass

Corina Blum

This vibrant pesto sea bass is a delicious and healthy way to eat fish. The nutty coriander pesto with chilli, garlic and lemon gives it a great flavour!

4.50 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course fish, Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 4

Calories 285 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 60 g coriander leaves and stalks
• 50 g cashew nuts
• 1 clove garlic roughly chopped
• 1 green chilli pepper
• 1 lemon juiced
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 600 g sea bass fillets
• Pinch Salt
• Pinch Black pepper

Instructions

 

• Put the cashew nuts into a dry frying pan and toast them until they are turning golden.  Keep tossing the pan so they don't burn.
• Put all the pesto ingredients into a food processor and blitz until everything is well combined.
• Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the sea bass for about 5 minutes until almost cooked through.
• Put a tablespoon of the pesto on each sea bass fillet and press it down so it coats the whole of the top of the sea bass. 
• Transfer the frying pan to the grill/broiler and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until the sea bass is fully cooked.

Video

Notes

Nutritional information is approximate and a guideline only.

Nutrition

Calories: 285kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 29gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 120mgSodium: 149mgPotassium: 544mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1145IUVitamin C: 8.5mgCalcium: 37mgIron: 2.4mg

Keyword Pesto sea bass

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More Delicious Fish Recipes

You might also like this Moroccan spiced salmon with ras el hanout. It's delicious as well as nut-free so perfect if you are cooking for people with allergies.

Keep in in touch

Do let me know if you make this coriander and cashew nut pesto, either on the sea bass or not, or any of my other recipes. I love to get feedback from readers.

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