Recipes

Pesce alla Palermitana (Whole Roasted Fish “Palermo Style”)

  • Serves

    serves 4

Made with scorpion fish at Bartolotta Ristorante in Las Vegas, this dish works just as well with red snapper. This recipe first appeared in our April 2012 issue along with Dana Bowen's story Where the Fish are Always Biting.

Ingredients

  • 34 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 cups halved cherry tomatoes
  • 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 8 oz. fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 14 cup pitted small green olives
  • 14 cup capers, rinsed
  • 3 Tbsp. roughly chopped fresh oregano, plus 5 sprigs
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 (1-lb.) red snapper, gutted, cleaned, and scaled
  • 1 Tbsp. chopped parsley

Instructions

Step 1

Heat oven to 450°. Heat 6 tbsp. oil in a 14″ high-sided skillet over medium-high heat; add tomatoes and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 6 minutes. Add potatoes, wine, olives, capers, oregano sprigs, juice, and ¾ cup water; boil. Season fish with salt and pepper, and add to skillet; transfer to oven, and cook, basting fish with sauce every few minutes until fish is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Step 2

Transfer fish to serving platter, and transfer skillet to stove over medium-high heat. Cook sauce until reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in remaining oil, chopped oregano, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste; pour sauce over fish to serve.

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