Pesce Persico Puttanesca… Say That Three Times Fast!

Tags

fish, Italy, olives, perch, puttanesca, tomatoes

KJ and I made our way into the city early yesterday for a bit of last minute back to school shopping and some desperately needed fridge restocking.  I had been looking forward to my Saturday in the city all week – a cafe con leche and a nice piece of cake at my favorite cafe; a leisurely stroll along the main boutique street; and the last odds and ends collected at Corte Ingles, Spain’s all-in-one department store, before heading home.

But as we rounded the last bend into Palma, traffic came to a sudden stop.  Accident?  No.  Boat show?  Nope.  It was el primer día de las rebajas, the first day of winter sales in Mallorca.  We managed to find parking in probably the farthest removed underground garage from the supermercado; shoved our way through Zaras; patiently waited in a winding queue at H&M; and penetrated cyclical waves of people as we made our way towards Corte Ingles.

Because of the distance back to the car, our grocery shopping had to be carefully curated – no heavy things and just the necessities, with the exception of ingredients needed for our preselected dinner recipe – a fish bathed in rich puttanesca sauce.  The original recipe from Saveur called for thick swordfish steaks, but I wanted a lighter yet meaty fish that would hold up well in the sauce.  Thus, we chose a large perch fillet, cut into smaller pieces later.

Pesce Persico Puttanesca (adapted from Saveur Issue No. 144, “Swordfish Puttanesca”)

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 4 perch fillets
• 6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 anchovies in oil, finely chopped
• 5 large Roma tomatoes, cut into wedges
• ~180 ml (3/4 cup) large green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
• 1/8 pint (1/4 cup) capers, rinsed and drained
• 2 dried habanero peppers. finely chopped
• 3 tbsp. roughly chopped parsley
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1/4 pint (1/2 cup) water

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat.  In the meantime, season fish with salt and pepper.  Add fish fillets to skillet and cook until just browned on both sides, ~3-4 minutes, turning once in between. Transfer fish to a plate and set aside.

Place a touch more oil into the skillet and turn down temperature to medium heat.  Cook garlic and anchovies, until soft and fragrant, ~2 minutes.  Next, add tomatoes, olives, capers, and chile; cook until tomatoes become soft and juices release.  Add enough water to just cover the bottom of the pan.  Allow the mixture to reduce, with a total cooking time of ~15 minutes.  Return fish to skillet; add parsley and lemon juice.  Cook until fish is cooked through, ~5 minutes.  Serve fillets with a few generous spoonfuls of sauce.

Beware – our four servings vanished quickly into two!!

 

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A Second Go-Around, Tomatoes & Olives… on a Baked Sole

Tags

olives, sole, tomatoes

Friends of ours, a few days back, so generously gifted us a beautiful huge sole (thanks, Gr & Van!).  After some reading, I found a recipe from Jamie Oliver for a baked sole that conveniently used many of the same ingredients I had already acquired for Eric Ripert’s Chicken Palliard with Tomatoes, Fennel and Olives the day before.  I actually don’t mind eating something two days in a row, especially if it’s a flavor combination that I find myself desperately craving again.

Much to my amused surprise, however, the two dishes were actually quite different.  Oliver’s recipe called for a couple of lemons while Ripert’s added raisins instead.  The subtle change in ingredients interestingly enough gave two completely distinct finishes despite other common ingredients: the former focused on tartness and tanginess while the latter highlighted with sweetness.

Baked Sole with Tomatoes and Olives (adapted from Jamie Oliver’s “The Nicest Tray Baked Lemon Sole”)

Ingredients (serves two):

• 1 whole sole
• 4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• a handful of fresh oregano or basil, leaves picked (I substituted with 1 tablespoon each of dried herbs)
• 1/2 onion finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 lemons, zested and halved
• extra virgin olive oil
• a handful of green olives, pitted and chopped
• a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F).  Place tomatoes, garlic, oregano, basil, and onion into a large mixing bowl.  Drizzle balsamic vinegar and a few tablespoons of olive oil.  Add the juice and zest of 1 lemon.  Combine everything thoroughly, salt and pepper to taste.

Spread the mixture into a single layer covering the bottom of a roasting pan or dish (large enough to hold the sole).  Next, rinse and dry the fish.  Using a sharp knife, cut several slits across the fish, 2.5 cm (1 inch) apart and with depth hitting the bone to allow juices to penetrate.  Place the fish on top of the bed of tomatoes.

Finally, using the same mixing bowl as before, combine chopped olives, parsley, and the juice and zest of the second lemon.  Add another drizzle of olive oil and mix to combine.  Lay the mixture evenly on top of the fish.  Make sure to pour all juices in as well.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on thickness of the fish.  Check the fish for doneness by piercing with a knife; the flesh should flake easily from the bone.  I ended up adding on another 3 minutes on top, since the sole was relatively meaty.

Our fish, in the raw, came with rough little scales intact; I have yet to acquire any fish cleaning skills and usually rely on the fishmonger to do the dirty work (“¿Es posible para limpiar el pescado?”).  Thus, after one panicked phone call to Van (“the fish has … scales!?”) and her polite consultation, I served the fish filleted, sans skin after cooking.  With a few big heaping spoonfuls of tomatoes and sauce, garnished with fresh parsley, and alongside a bed of red rice, it was lovely… again(ish).

 

Chicken Breasts with Tomatoes, Fennel & Olives

Tags

chicken, fennel, olives, tomato

Yesterday, I reverted back to Eric Ripert’s beautiful recipe collection.  He had one for a chicken palliard inspired by the flavours of Chianti, Italy that I admittedly already tested out a few weeks back.  However, though on the first try the chicken turned out good, hubby politely said – there’s something missing.  I don’t know how he figured me out (or rather he knows me too well), but he was right.  I had skimped on half the ingredients since I had only the other half on hand.

So on the second time around, I decided to shop ahead for some things and follow Mr. Ripert’s recipe a bit more diligently.  The local market still lacked a few things, but I made sure that the showcase ingredients (like the fennel that I previously omitted) got featured.  And yes, for this dish, it made a difference.

Ripert’s recipe decidedly calls for a chicken palliard – thinly pounded meat which cooks very quickly.  I completed this step the first time through, but the second – we had just returned home from an afternoon hike and were sooooo hungry that I simply threw the chicken breasts into the dutch oven.  Thus, I must give up any claim to a palliard in the recipe title.  But it’s okay.  Since I reduced the number of chicken breasts in the recipe by half, the tomatoes and booze soaked prunes provided so much moisture that the cooked but un-pounded chicken remained tender and juicy.

Chicken Breasts with Tomatoes, Fennel & Olives (adapted from Eric Ripert’s Chicken Palliard with Tomatoes, Fennel & Olives)

Ingredients: (serves 2)

• 2 skinless boneless chicken (double the serving by using 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and lightly pounded flat)
• 1/2 of an onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 3/8 pint (3/4 cup) thinly sliced fennel
• 1/4 pint (1/2 cup) green olives, pitted and sliced
• 1/8 pint (1/4 cup) raisins or chopped prunes, soaked in white wine or sherry
• 1/8 pint (1/4 cup) pine nuts, toasted
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1/4 pint (1/2 cup) olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of herbs de Provence, or the leaves of 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 teaspoons pimenton (optional)
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Place vegetable mix on top of chicken breasts and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 230 degrees C (~450 degrees F).  Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper.  Drizzle some olive oil on the bottom of a dutch oven or baking dish and place chicken inside.

In a mixing bowl combine onions, garlic, tomatoes, fennel, green olives, prunes, pine nuts, herbs de Provence, pimenton and capers.  Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and toss to combine; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Next, cover the chicken with the vegetable/herb mixture and drizzle a little more olive oil on top. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the chicken and serve; I accompanied each chicken breast with a scoop of hearty quinora.

I’m in absolute adoration of this dish for not only for the wonderfully melded flavors, but ease in preparation.  On a hungry evening, rustic dishes that involve only a bit of chopping, my beloved dutch oven, and some bake time amount to pure luxury.