Thursday, March 6, 2008

Fish with Pine Nuts, Olives, Basil...

Ok so this recipe has a long name, but I swear its easy to make! Sometimes the Williams-Sonoma recipes look long, lengthy& difficult. They aren't, but they do take a little but tweaking to make it work for the everyday chef.
Our diet, or whatever you want to call it, has us eat a lot of fish. I like to find ways to make the fish more interesting. This recipe looked like a winner. I pulled out some tilapia and we were off.

Fish with Pine Nuts, Olives, Basil & Wine
Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:
1/4 cup pine nuts
4 firm white fish fillets, such as snapper,
rock cod, flounder, sea bass, halibut,
swordfish or tilapia, each 6 to 7 oz.
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 Tbs. finely minced garlic
5 Tbs. fresh basil leaves, shredded
1/2 cup Mediterranean-style green and/or black
olives, pitted if desired
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350°F.

Spread the pine nuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until they take on color and are fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F.

Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper. Place in a baking dish in which they fit in a single layer. In a small bowl, stir together 3 Tbs. of the olive oil and the wine. Pour over the fish fillets. Top with half of the garlic and half of the basil, and then distribute the olives around the fillets. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake until the fish is opaque throughout when pierced with a knife, 10 to 15 minutes. The timing will depend upon the thickness of the fillets. Using a slotted spatula, transfer the fillets to warmed individual plates.

Pour the pan juices, olives and reserved pine nuts into a small sauté pan and set over medium heat. Swirl in the remaining 1 Tbs. olive oil and the remaining garlic and basil. When warm and fragrant, spoon over the fish. Serve immediately. Serves 4.


**My Tweaking**
I halved this. There are only two of us and I hate reheated fish.
I toasted the pine nuts in a skillet on the stovetop.
Having baked the tilapia at 400F for 10 minutes (it was super thin) and it still be raw, I up'd it to 425 for 15 minutes and it was perfect.
I served this with some whole wheat pasta, but a lemon risotto would be superb with it. I just didnt think about the risotto until the fish was in oven, the fish would have been done long before the risotto.
Oh this totally looks like something you would get at a restaurant!

1 comment:

monica byrne said...

This totally looks like something I would love! Wher do you buy your fish? I find myself buying mine at Whole Foods almost always, so I was just wondering if you have another place you'd like to share....Also, do you ever pair wine with food?