Pelengas is not a gourmet fish, but this does not prevent many gourmets from treating it with great respect. A small number of bones, snow-white aromatic meat, thick but not hard skin, and at the same time a low price are the main features of this fish.

What can they cook from pelengas! It is fried and baked, salted and smoked, marinated in Korean and made into minced meat for cutlets, lasagna, and fish dumplings. The relatively low cost, even during a crisis, makes this fish an excellent option for the everyday menu. But its excellent taste can withstand competition even on the holiday table. When thinking over the menu for a gala feast, do not ignore this fish; the main decoration of the table may well be the pelengas.

It is usually cooked whole in the oven. This allows you to keep the meat juicy, and this delicacy looks simply royal.

Preparing the fish

It is not easy to clean pelengas scales. The scales are easily removed, but scatter throughout the kitchen. If possible, leave this matter to the seller, but ask him not to touch the insides.

If you have to deal with uncleaned fish yourself, arm yourself with a special cleaner and get started. It's better to start from the tail. Be especially careful in the area of ​​the fins - hard, small scales are hidden under them.

Use pliers (or special tongs if you have them) to remove the gills. Baked pelengas in the oven looks more impressive with the head, if possible, keep it in place.

Belly or back?

Why shouldn't you rush with the insides? Many professionals advise cutting large fish with delicate fat not from the belly, but from the back. This will preserve the tender fatty meat on the belly. Otherwise, all the juices and fat will melt through the cut. And it’s much easier to free yourself from the spine this way.

Make an incision with a very sharp knife along the entire back, running it along both sides of the ridge. Using scissors, cut through the spine near the tail and near the head; it will give in easily, and the ribs will follow it. Carefully remove the insides, being careful not to damage the bile sac. Rinse the carcass under running water, remove films from the inner surface of the abdominal cavity. By the way, do not forget that the liver of this fish is edible and tasty. It can be cooked, like the pelengas itself - in the oven, along with vegetables.

Additional components

For this recipe, you can use any of your favorite vegetables: turnips, green peas, asparagus and green beans, eggplant, broccoli, and many types of onions. Mushrooms are also suitable for the recipe.

Pelengas in the oven, the recipe for which is given in this article, is stuffed with young zucchini, carrots, onions and herbs.

Cut the vegetables into cubes and fry them separately in oil. Then mix and simmer briefly in half a glass of white wine. Add a pinch each of the mixture of peppers, coriander and salt.

Stuffing

Rub the fish with salt inside and out. Lemon juice is another ingredient that can be used in this recipe if desired. Thanks to it, you will get even more tender and aromatic pelengas in the oven.

The photo shows how to distribute the filling. To prevent the fish from falling apart, tie it, pin it with toothpicks, or simply sew up the cut on the back.

In foil, in a sleeve or without anything?

There are a huge number of baking options. You can place the fish on a bed of onion rings, herbs and roots, then you will get a crispy, golden brown crust. If you like tender meat, send the pelengas to it; this will preserve all the juices and flavors. But during cooking, the lost moisture will remain in the sleeve, and the fish will stew.

Pelengas in the oven in foil cooks faster, due to the fact that the foil holds the temperature. In short, do as you please.

Baking in the oven

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Place the baking sheet in the middle position and bake until done. Whole pelengas takes longer to bake in the oven than pieces of fish; it will be completely cooked in about 30-40 minutes.

How to check readiness? The main feature is the persistent aroma of the finished fish, which by the end of cooking will spread throughout the apartment. To be sure, you can pierce the pulp with a long bamboo skewer - it should go in easily.

Serving and garnishing

Is it worth serving as a side dish for such a dish as baked pelengas? In the oven, the fish was cooked with vegetables, and the dish could well be called self-sufficient. However, compared to the fish part, there are very few vegetables. Therefore, it would be quite logical to serve mashed potatoes or boiled fluffy rice as a side dish.

This dish can also be a wonderful addition to pasta. Choose shapes that hold the sauce well: shells, cones, spirals.

White wine with a small amount of sugar is traditionally served with fish dishes. But pelengas baked in the oven with vegetables turns out to be quite expressive and high in calories, so it can be served as a snack and with strong alcohol.

Tomato or vegetable juice, cranberry juice, and mineral water go well with this dish as drinks.

It is best to serve a whole pelengas to the table on a large flat dish - this will create a real sensation. Be sure to remove the holding threads or skewers first. The fish can be placed on lettuce or iceberg leaves, garnished with olives, thin lemon slices, viburnum berries, and herbs. When setting the table, do not forget about fish table knives and forks.

Baked it turns out even more delicious than fried in a frying pan. Since it is suitable for small-sized fish, it is mainly baked whole. It is very rare to see pelengas on sale here, unlike any other sea fish, so as soon as I see it, I buy 2-3 kg at a time. This strategic stock of fish lasts for a long time.

I use it to make fish soup, fry it and bake it in the oven. I really like experimenting with different options for preparing pelengas in the oven. I like to change the marinade and also stuff the fish with one or another filling. In addition, pelengas in the oven, baked whole with potatoes or vegetables, also turns out very tasty. In addition to incredibly tasty fish, you will also receive a delicious side dish.

Today I want to show you how to bake pelengas in the oven in foil step by step with photos. Foil is an excellent device for baking meat and fish. For example, I often cook.

Ingredients:

• Bearing carcass - 2 pcs.,
• Lemon - 1 tbsp. spoon of lemon juice,
• Olive oil - 6 tbsp. spoons,
• Salt - a pinch
• Spices: ground black pepper, paprika, basil, thyme - a pinch each.

Pelengas in the oven - recipe with photos

Let's start developing the dish by preparing the pelengas. The fish must be cleaned of scales.

Rip open her belly and gut her.

The head can be cut off, but with it the baked pelengas looks more appetizing. Prepare the sauce. Squeeze lemon juice into a bowl.

Pour in olive oil.

Add spices and salt.

Stir the sauce.

Lubricate the fish outside and inside with the resulting sauce. Line a baking sheet with a piece of foil. Place bearings on it.

Baked pelengas is tasty, appetizing and satisfying. I really like this fish, as it does not contain small bones, and the meat itself is juicy. I cook pelengas often and in different variations: with vegetables, with citrus fruits or in sour cream. This time I decided to bake the whole pelengas in the oven, brushing the fish with sour cream. The fish according to this recipe turned out to be incredibly tender and aromatic. Try it and you will definitely like it.

Ingredients

To prepare pelengas, baked whole in the oven, you will need:

bearing - 4 pcs.;

potatoes - 400 g;

onions - 2 pcs.;

salt - to taste;

Provençal herbs - to taste;

sour cream - 4 tbsp. l. (I cooked with homemade sour cream, but you can use store-bought one).

Cooking steps

Prepare the necessary ingredients.

Clean the scales from the pelengas, remove the gills and entrails. Rinse the fish well under running water. Rub pelengas salt both inside and outside.

To ensure that the pelengas do not burn and cook evenly, you will need vegetables that will serve as a side dish in the future. Peel the potatoes and onions and cut them into small pieces of arbitrary shape, mix, salt and sprinkle with Provençal herbs. Place the vegetables on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Place pelengas on potatoes and onions.

Grease each fish generously with sour cream. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake the pelengas for 45 minutes.

The aromatic, juicy and very tasty fish is ready. Serve pelengas, baked in the oven whole, to the table warm.

Cook with love!

In the oven Bake the whole pelengas at a temperature of 200 degrees. Pelengas, cut into pieces, bake in the oven at 180 degrees.
In a convection oven Bake pelengas at a temperature of 220 degrees and medium air speed. In a slow cooker Bake pelengas on the “Stew” mode.

How to bake pelengas in foil

Products
Pelengas - 1 fish per 2 kilograms
Potatoes - 3 kilograms
Red bell pepper - 2 medium
Garlic - 10 cloves
Onions - 2 heads
Lemon - 1 piece
Tomato - 1 large
Butter - 30 grams
Dill and parsley - a bunch each
Seasoning for fish - 1 tablespoon
Salt and pepper - to taste

Food preparation
If the fish is frozen, defrost, remove scales, fins, and gut. Rinse the fish well, inside and out, and dry with a towel.
Make cuts on both sides of the pelengas, season well with salt and pepper. Wash and peel the vegetables. Cut the onion, tomato and lemon into half rings, bell pepper into strips, chop the greens, peel and cut the garlic cloves in half. Peel the potatoes and cut each potato into several pieces. Stuff the slits of the pelengas with garlic and lemon slices. Place the remaining lemon and garlic in a bowl, add bell pepper, spices, chopped herbs, chopped tomatoes and salt. Mix the vegetable mixture and fill the pelengas with it.
Place the potatoes in a bowl, add chopped onions, add butter to the vegetables, pepper, salt and mix.

Baking in the oven
Line a baking sheet with foil, place onions and potatoes, place fish on top and cover tightly with foil. Bake the pelengas in the oven for 40 minutes at 200 degrees.

Air fryer baking
Preheat the air fryer to 220 degrees. Layer the ingredients in a baking dish. Place the form with the bearing on the lower grill of the air fryer. Bake the pelengas for 30 minutes at medium fan speed.

Baking in a slow cooker
Place onions and potatoes on the bottom of the multicooker, place pelengas on top. Bake on the "Stew" mode for 1 hour 10 minutes.

Serve pelengas baked in the oven, garnished with olives, lemon slices and fresh chopped herbs.

How to bake pelengas in a sleeve

Ingredients
Pelengas - 1.5 kilograms
Carrots - 1 piece
Onions - 1 piece
Ginger - 1 piece
Adjika - 2 tablespoons
Ground black pepper - on the tip of a knife
Dill - 3 sprigs
Butter - 50 grams

How to bake pelengas in a sleeve
Pelengas clean, gut, remove the black film from the fish, rinse well. Rub the pelengas with salt, adjika, and pepper. Cut the ginger and stuff it into the pelengas. Peel and cut the onion into half rings. Peel the carrots and grate on a coarse grater. Place the pelengas with the marinade in a baking sleeve, cover with onions and carrots, tie and leave for 1 hour in a cool place.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, place the pelengas in the sleeve on a baking sheet, place the baking sheet on the middle level of the oven and bake the pelengas in the sleeve for 45 minutes.

Finally! Autumn has come, which means it's time for such a tasty fish as pelengas. Excellent fish of the mullet family with tender white meat and almost no bones. Once you get acquainted with this fish, you simply don’t want to leave. If at first this was a certain thing, then for some time now it has taken its strong place on the tables of Russians and has become quite familiar.

So I bought it today at the market, as I already told you. And today, for a change, I’ll cook pelengas baked in the oven. This visual recipe with photos will tell you about the simplicity and at the same time about the appetizing appearance of this dish. It can be prepared for Sunday lunch, or just for dinner. Pelengas has tender meat, is prepared simply and quite quickly, which will undoubtedly please any housewife. In addition, this fish has always been a priority among nutritionists because of its benefits, so you can safely eat it without thinking about excess weight.

Preparation

Wash the fish under cold water and any available gadget. Rinse with water again, removing any remaining scales. Let's open the abdomen, very carefully take out the entrails and liver, as well as . Rinse the fish under running water and place it on a towel or paper napkin to drain off excess water. Now cut into portions, rub each piece with salt and spices, and then leave to marinate for 30 minutes.

While the pelengas is marinating, prepare the kefir and onion filling.

You can use sour cream instead of kefir, but then you will end up with a fattier dish, the choice is yours.

Peel off the husks and rinse under cool water to prevent your eyes from watering. Cut it into half rings and put it in a deep bowl. Next, we knead it a little with our hands so that the juice stands out. Salt the onion, sprinkle with fish spices and pour in. Mix thoroughly and leave for 15-20 minutes to marinate well.

Just don’t overdo it with salt, we’ve already salted the fish!

Grease a deep baking sheet or baking dish with vegetable oil, place the pelengas cut into pieces into it and fill it with kefir and onion filling. Let's bake in the oven preheated to 180 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

So, time is up and everything is ready. At the same time as the fish, I put it in the oven to bake, and I will serve the fish with it, and also. Today you learned how to deliciously bake pelengas in the oven in pieces. I recommend adding this recipe to your recipe collection.. Bon appetit!

Ingredients

• 1.8-2 kg – fresh pelengas;
• 3-4 pcs – onions;
• 0.5 l – kefir or sour cream;
• Salt, spices for fish - to taste;
• A variety of greens, several branches each.