Pesce Farcito senza Ossi

Simply put, this dish translates as stuffed fish without bones. It is based on the Philippine specialty, stuffed milkfish. The Philippine art of deboning and stuffing a fish is an old one. What attracted me about this recipe is that your dinner guests will truly enjoy it, regardless of their experience with eating fish – there are no bones in it! Aside from the absence of bones, the stuffing is loaded with Italian flavors, making it quite distinct from its Philippine cousin. It will get you raves! There is one caution, though – if you’re squeamish about gutting a fish, looking at its head or entrails, well, you may not be ambitious to make it. The final product, however, is similar to a terrine or pâté that goes excellently with some crusty Italian bread and a dry white wine – that might persuade you to make it anyway!
It is a very cost effective dish – you can use whatever whole fish is in season. Make sure it’s fresh – check the eyes – they should be very bright. If the eyes look glazed over, it’s been sitting too long – don’t get it, and make your fish another day – find out when the monger gets weekly shipments of fresh fish.
The length of your fish should be approximately 15 – 18 inches with a height of 5-8 inches (measured from the dorsal fin to the bottom of its belly). First let me brief you on how to debone and gut the fish – the illustrations above will also guide you through the process as well.
Deboning and Gutting your Fish
You will need to find a whole fish that has not been gutted. Have your fish monger scale it, and that’s it. Do not have the entrails removed yet, or anything else on the fish.
When you get home, remove it from newspaper wrapping and wash the fish, and remove any extra scales the monger may have missed (it’s usually the case that some scales were missed). Dry the fish when done.
On a work surface, lay the fish out with its dorsal fin facing you. Take your kitchen scissors and cut off the dorsal fin, cutting on back surface just below the fin. Discard or save the fin for fish stock. Then, with a sharp filet knife, cut along the length of its back from the nape of its neck to the tail. With the kitchen scissors, snip off any dorsal bone points that may be there and save them for future stock. With your scissors, snap the spine just before the head and then the tail. With your fingers, separate the fish flesh from the bone until you’re able to lift out the entire spine. When you remove the spine there will most likely be some fish flesh hugging the bone – remove as much of the fish as you can and place in a bowl for use later. Put the spine in with the other unusable parts and use for future stock.
Back to the fish – now remove any extra fish that is hugging onto the skin – that can be done in two different ways – I prefer to lift the skin just at the tip of its back and work down. You can also use a dull spoon or knife (like a butter knife) and gently scrape off, being careful not to puncture skin. Put all the fish flesh into the bowl you already started. At the very bottom of the fish (its belly) you will see the entrails – remove all the entrails, discard, except for the roe if any – the roe (usually a red, pink, or yellow color) is excellent poached in butter and put on some toast with a condiment, such as mayonnaise or mustard. Don’t waist it. If you have a cat or a piranha, you can feed the rest of the entrails to it.
You should now be left with a head and tail, both attached to an empty fish skin cavity (see image). Congratulations! I knew you could do it!
Refrigerate the carcass for use later. Now it’s time for the gourmet part!
Ingredients:
Fish from one gutted and deboned whole fish, boiled and chopped very fine, with all stray bones removed
1 c of Italian bread crumbs from stale Italian bread, chopped fine (food processor works well)
1 c grated Parmigiano Reggiano
A handful of fresh Italian parsley, chopped fine
6-7 sage leaves, chopped very fine
½ cup of golden raisins, soaked in hot fish or chicken stock for 2 hours (optional)
½ c of finely chopped cooked carrots
½ c of thawed frozen peas (optional)
½ minced onion, sautéed
3 garlic toes, minced and sautéed with onion
¼ c of minced celery heart, sautéed with onion and garlic (optional)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Sea salt to taste
Pepper (optional)
Extra – virgin olive oil for sautéing onion, garlic, and celery, and for use on fish and the baking pan

Preparation:
In processor, mix by pulsing: the fish, bread crumbs, Parmigiano Reggiano, parsley, sage, [raisins], carrots, onion, garlic, [celery], any leftover oil from the sautéing, eggs, salt, and [pepper] until the mixture is slightly pasty with a little texture. Place mixture in bowl. Then, fold in the peas if desired.
Preheat your oven to 325ºF.
Now take out your good ol’ friend from the frig, Signore Pesce! You have developed quite a rapport with that fish, you know!
With your hands or a spoon (I prefer my clean hands), stuff the fish from head to tail with the delicious stuffing – putting stuffing in its head, too. At this point, you may either sew the fish opening, or tie kitchen string all around Signore Pesce. Drizzle some olive oil on a baking pan, place tied or sewn fish on top, and then drizzle olive oil on the side of the fish facing up. Rub it gently on the fish with your hands. Lightly salt the skin facing you.
Place Signore Pesce in the oven for anywhere between 30-45 minutes – check on it – you want it to be golden brown crispy.
Remove from oven, and let it have a good long rest for a couple of hours until completely cool. Then, I place the pan wrapped in foil into the frig overnight or for 2-3 hours.
Remove from frig, and with a sharp knife, cut ¼-½ inch slices diagonally, leaving the fish looking intact – they are delicious as pâté on bread, or eaten as one of your antipasto items. It goes well with cured salmon and roasted red peppers.
Buon appetito!