Cooking for two

Flaky fish gets saucy, Mediterranean style

For The Washington Post/STACY ZARIN GOLDBERG Portuguese-Style Fish
For The Washington Post/STACY ZARIN GOLDBERG Portuguese-Style Fish

White fish + red sauce: Mediterranean-inspired cookbooks are filled with recipes that build on the classic combo, and for good reason. The sauce is typically light, and some of the best and easiest pairings start with canned tomatoes. Often tinned with citric acid, those tomatoes may work the same flavor-affinity magic as when mild, flaky fish is matched with a sancerre or vinho verde.

This dish is said to be in the style of the whole fish baked in a spicy red sauce and served at seaside restaurants in Portugal, except here we're using skinned filets to speed up the process. This is ready in 20 minutes! Jalapeno is responsible for the kick, and, as home cooks we have learned, that type of pepper is mighty fickle about how much heat it will impart.

Portuguese-Style Fish

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided use, plus more for drizzling

About 6 red pearl onions, trimmed and peeled

1 medium jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 (14-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, each cut into about 6 chunks

⅓ cup dry red wine (can substitute juices from the tomatoes OR 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar)

A few stems fresh thyme, plus more fresh leaves for garnish

Sea salt and ground black pepper

12 ounces skinned cod filets (can substitute other white-fleshed fish, such as sea bass or flounder), patted dry

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in an oven-safe skillet until shimmering over medium heat. Stir in the onions; cook for about 8 minutes, until mostly translucent. Stir in the jalapeno and garlic; cook for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes and their juices, the wine and thyme. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low; cook for 10 minutes, stirring a few times, then uncover and cook for 5 minutes more. Taste, and season with salt and pepper, as needed.

Coat the fish on both sides with the remaining teaspoon of oil, then season generously with salt and pepper. Place them, skinned sides down, on top of the sauce in the pan, then transfer to the oven. Roast (middle rack) for 10 minutes, or just until the fish is slightly firmer and more opaque (a brighter shade of white, which is why it's better to place them in the pan skinned sides down; so you can better tell how done they are).

Discard the thyme stems. Drizzle with oil, scatter fresh thyme leaves on top and serve hot.

Makes 2 to 3 servings.

Adapted from Dinner in Minutes: Memorable Meals in Minutes for Busy Cooks by Linda Gassenheimer (Houghton Mifflin, 1995 edition)

Food on 05/22/2019

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