AQUA PAZZA

By Chef Stephanie Hajj from Le Pelican

This mouthwatering episode of The Community Chronicles combines the richness of Lebanon’s land and sea. It documents Chef Stephanie Hage as she reveals her Aqua Pazza recipe with WATA. Stephanie inherited her love of food and the sea from her family and decided to make it her passion… And that’s how Le Pélican was born: a family business that oozes love for food, love for family, love for the land, love for the sea and love for the community.

The simplest ingredients make up the tastiest dishes! And Aqua Pazza is an Italian dish based on four basic ingredients: tomatoes, basil, wine and fish. Chef Hage adds to it our WATA Brut – a dry cider which goes perfectly with the subtle flavors of fish (and can equally pair with vegetables, pork, chicken or risotto).

Ingredients:

White fish of choice

Basil leaves and buds

Cherry tomatoes

Wild fennel

Spring onions

Bottle of WATA Brut

Olive oil

Sea salt

To make it:

Clean and up up your fish of choice

Rub the flesh of the fish with salt

Stuff the inside of the fish with wild fennel (a cider and apple’s best friend)

Drizzle with a bit of olive oil

Stuff with a fresh basil stem (ideally with its buds still on) and fold back the fish skin

Add into a skillet

Finely slice some spring onions and sprinkle it on top of the fish along with some more salt

Top with whole cherry tomatoes which will eventually burst and give a concentrated flavor

Top with half a bottle of WATA Brut (keep the other half to drink with the fish)

Bake in the oven

Watch the video