The recipe I’ve given you here can be used with all sorts of dishes – I’ve shown you how to tweak it to go with fish, but you can try using it with anything from pasta to grilled chicken
1 hr 5 mins
Super easy
serves 4
About the recipe
This delicate white baked fish in a gorgeous Italian-style sauce is simple and mega tasty.
Ingredients
3 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of fresh basil
olive oil
1 fresh red chilli
2 x 400g tins of quality plum tomatoes
red wine vinegar
4 x 150g white fish fillets such as coley, whiting, pollock, skin off, pin-boned, from sustainable sources
1 handful of black olives (stone in)
1 tablespoon capers
Top Tip
The most important thing to remember with this recipe is to buy good-quality fish from your local fishmonger or supermarket.
Method
- To make the sauce, peel and finely slice the garlic cloves. Pick the basil leaves and finely slice the stalks.
- Heat a good couple of lugs of oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the garlic and basil stalks. Pierce the chilli once with a knife so it doesn’t explode when frying, then add to the pan. Fry gently until the garlic is soft but not coloured, stirring occasionally.
- Add the tomatoes and season lightly with sea salt and black pepper, then simmer gently over a low heat for 30 minutes, or until thickened and slightly reduced.
- When the time's up, remove the chilli, and break up the tomatoes with the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed, then add a tiny swig of red wine vinegar to give it a little twang.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.
- Pour the tomato sauce into a 20cm x 30cm roasting tray. Season the fish fillets on both sides with a little salt and pepper, then place on top of the sauce.
- Squash the olives, using the base of a jar or something heavy, and remove the stones. Sprinkle into the tray, along with the capers and most of the basil leaves over the fish.
- Cook in the oven for around 15 minutes or until the fish is cooked through – check by cutting into the thickest part of one or two of the fillets; they should be pearly white and not transparent.
- Scatter over the remaining basil leaves. Lovely served with new potatoes and a green salad.
If you want to save some time, double the quantities and freeze half of the sauce (it will keep for a couple of months), or pop it in the fridge for up to a week.
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