Baked White Fish

The most important thing to remember with this recipe is to buy good-quality fish from your local fishmonger or grocery store. 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. 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.

Ingredients

3 cloves of garlic
A small bunch of fresh basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 jalapeno or Serrano chile
28-ounce can diced tomato
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
4 x 5-ounce white fish filets such as coley, cod or sea bass, skin off and bones removed ¼ cup black olives

To make your sauce

1. Peel and finely slice the garlic cloves. Pick the basil leaves and put aside, finely slice the stalks.
2. Add a lug of olive oil to a large pan on medium heat. Add the garlic and basil stalks. Pierce the chile once with a knife so it doesn’t explode when frying, and add to the pan. Fry gently until the garlic is soft but not colored, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the can of tomato and season lightly with the salt and pepper. Gently simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Remove the chile. Break and mush the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Add a tiny swig of red wine vinegar to give it a little twang.

To prepare and cook your fish

4. Preheat the oven to 425˚F.
5. Pour your tomato sauce into a baking dish (about 8 x 11 inches). Place the fillets on top of the sauce. Squash the olives, using the base of a jar or something heavy, remove the pits and sprinkle the olives over the fish along with the reserved basil.
6. Bake 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). Lovely served with new potatoes and a green salad. Serves 4