Surmullets at Livornese

Preparation:

Preparation: Wash the red mullet under running water, remove the innards, gently scale them with a knife blade and place them on a plate. Heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan and fry the crushed garlic cloves for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Remove the garlic and put the chopped onion in the bowl. Leave it to soften gently for a couple of minutes, then add the peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes, season with the necessary salt and a grind of pepper and cook over moderate heat for about 20 minutes. Pass the red mullets in the flour making sure they are completely coated, then fry them in a pan with plenty of hot olive oil for about 10 minutes. When they are well browned, drain them and place them on a sheet of absorbent kitchen paper to remove any excess fat, then transfer them to the saucepan with the tomato sauce. Leave them to flavor for about ten minutes over moderate heat and sprinkle them with the chopped parsley just before removing them from the heat. Transfer the red mullets and their sauce onto a hot serving plate and serve. --- ADVICE. Very well-known sea fish, mullets are distinguished above all by their characteristic colouring, which is bright pink in the delicate rock mullet, darker, tending towards reddish-brown, in red mullet, the least valuable species. The vivacity of the colors is also an infallible indicator of their freshness, in fact when they fade it means that the fish begins to deteriorate. The lean, tasty and thorny pulp of the red mullet is highly appreciated by gourmets and can be prepared in various ways depending on the size of the specimens.