Here’s an easy recipe for a flavorful roasted sea bass recipe. You just precook a few potatoes, then slice them into a roasting pan, top with the other ingredients and pop in the oven for 20 minutes or so. The result is tender pieces of glistening, herb-flecked fish and you barely had to do anything at all. This would also be really beautiful with a whole fish, if you can get your hands on one and have the roasting pan to accommodate it.

This dish works beautifully with your favorite Chardonnay — it’s bold enough to stand up to really full-bodied examples, but those lighter, unoaked versions that are popping up work well, too. I’ve included notes on a few $20-and-under Chardonnays that have stood out for me lately.

Recipe: Roasted Sea Bass with Potatoes, Capers, Thyme & Olives

4 6-ounce skinless fillets of sea bass
1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
1/4 cup oil-cured black olives, pitted
4 Tablespoons capers (I like a lot of capers — you can feel free to use less)
3 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2/3 cup dry white wine (feel free to use the Chardonnay you’re pairing with the dish)
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 425F. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

Peel the potatoes and add to the boiling water. Remove when just barely cooked through and still firm enough to slice. Cut them into thick slices and distribute the slices in the bottom of a roasting pan.

Drizzle the potatoes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, the place the fish fillets on top of the potatoes. Scatter over the olives, capers and thyme. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Place the roasting pan in the oven and roast for about 5 minutes. Then pour over the wine and the other tablespoon of oil and continue roasting until the fillets are cooked, about 12-15 minutes. Serve with any accumulated pan juices poured over. Serves 4.

$20-and-under Chardonnay ideas:

Toad Hollow 2010 Chardonnay Mendocino County Francine’s Selection Unoaked ($15). Appealing for its fruity crispness — plenty of bright lemon and other citrusy notes accenting stonefruit and smooth apple flavors. Nice palate weight and just a touch of creaminess on the palate. Ready to drink now. Locate this wine online or in your area.

Paraiso Vineyards 2009 Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands ($18). Fans of the richer style of Chardonnay will appreciate the affordability of this wine, offering plenty of oak, butter, toast and cream accents to the pretty pear, tangerine and lemon zest flavors, with a long, full finish. Ready to drink now. Locate this wine online or in your area.

Biltmore Reserve 2010 Chardonnay Sonoma County ($20). If I understand things correctly, Biltmore Reserve makes wine in North Carolina, but some of their fruit comes from California. And sometimes, enough of it comes from California that they can even put California appellations on the label. But anyway, this Chardonnay is tasty. With bright lemon and concentrated pineapple notes balancing the smooth, ripe pear and melon. Not over-oaked; moderate touches of spice and cream. Ready to drink now. Locate this wine online or in your area.