In Italian cooking, the whole fish baked in the oven with whatever the season offers is not a recipe so much as a method. The fish goes in. The vegetables go around it. White wine, olive oil, and the heat of the oven do the work. Forty-five minutes later, everything on the pan is better than it was.
Branzino is forgiving in this context. The flesh stays moist under the skin when roasted whole, the bones conduct heat evenly, and the head and tail enrich the pan juices. What surrounds the fish matters as much as the fish itself.
Here, Gusta's artichokes in olive oil stand in for the fresh artichokes that take twenty minutes to trim and turn. The jarred version is already cooked and seasoned, which means they need only twenty minutes in the oven to caramelize against the pan. Cherry tomatoes collapse into the juices. The wine becomes a light broth. Everything on the plate is worth the bread.
Set servings and units first. You can change them anytime.
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Pat both branzino dry inside and out with paper towels. Score the skin 3 times on each side with a sharp knife, cutting down to the bone. Season the cavity and the scored skin with salt and black pepper.
Tuck 3 lemon slices and 3 thyme sprigs inside each cavity. Place 1 garlic clove inside each cavity as well.
Arrange the drained artichokes and cherry tomatoes in a baking dish large enough to hold both fish side by side. Scatter the remaining 2 garlic cloves and the capers among the vegetables. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season lightly with salt.
Place the branzino on top of the vegetables. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the skin. Pour the white wine around the fish.
Roast uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes. The skin should be golden and the flesh pulling away from the bone. Test at the thickest part: it should flake cleanly with a fork.
Scatter parsley over the top. Serve the fish whole at the table with the roasted artichokes and pan juices spooned alongside. Pass the reserved lemon half for squeezing.
You made Branzino al Forno con Carciofi. Time to eat.
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If your baking dish is narrow, position the fish tail-to-tail rather than head-to-tail so they fit without crowding. A fish with room around it roasts more evenly than one pressed against the sides of the dish.
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