Tomatoes go extraordinarily well with olives and capers, and white fish -- cod, or whatever other fish you prefer, is quite mild and will therefore go nicely with the sauce too. To serve 4 you'll need:
Prep Time: 60 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
- For the first course:
- 1 1/3 pounds (600 g) cherry tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
- 12 large green olives, pitted and chopped
- 6 black Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
- 1 tablespoon salted capers, rinsed and coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon sugar (optional, if the tomatoes are acidic)
- 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
- A bunch of arugla (also known as rocket), rinsed and chopped
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 12 ounces (320 g) mafalde (half-inch, wavy-edged strips), or corkscrews
- --
- For the second course:
- 2 pounds cod filets, half inch (1 cm) thick,
- A steamer
Preparation:
Begin by washing the tomatoes and blanching them; peel them, discard their stems, and arrange them in an oven dish. While you're doing this, preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C). Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer in an oven dish, and sprinkle them with the chopped olives, capers, and garlic. Sprinkle a quarter cup of olive oil over the tomatoes, together with the breadcrumbs and the sugar, if you're using it, and bake the tomatoes for about 30 minutes.In the meantime, bring pasta water to a boil and salt it; cook the pasta, timing the cooking time so that the pasta and the sauce will be done at the same time. You should also steam your fish, figuring 3-5 minutes steaming time, and keep it warm. When the sauce and pasta are done, remove sauce from the oven and turn it into a bowl to cool it slightly. Mix in the chopped arugola, and use half the sauce to season the pasta, and the other half to season the fish. Serve the fish either warm or cool, as you prefer, with a tossed salad, crusty bread, and a fairly rich white wine, along the lines of a Sauvignon Blanc from Friuli.
