Mediterranean Fish (Flounder)

kda949's Note:

You can use any firm fish for this recipe- I have used flounder-aka sole, mahi mahi, halibut and tilapia. It makes a wonderfully easy baked fish with tomatoes, kalamata olives, caper, onions and white wine. It is my absolute favorite way to make fish! I got the recipe from here but do not see it posted anymore so I will added it again for everyone to enjoy- it is SO EASY and SO GOOD!

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 5 roma tomatoes, chopped or 1 (15 ounce) can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ onion , chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , chopped
• 1 pinch italian seasoning
• ¼ cup white wine
• 24 kalamata olives , pitted and chopped
• 4 tablespoons capers
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice , fresh perfered
• 6 leaves fresh basil , chopped
• 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• 1 lb flounder (any firm fish) or 1 lb sole (any firm fish) or 1 lb halibut (any firm fish) or 1 lb mahi mahi (any firm fish) or 1 lb tilapia fillet (any firm fish)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Prepare tomatoes if using fresh by plunging them into boiling water, imediately removing them to a bowl of ice water and peeling the skins. Or you can chop them with the skins on or use canned- it is a person preference thing.
3. heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute until tender. Add garlic and Italian seasoning, stirring to combine. Add tomatoes and cook until tender. Mix in wine, olives, capers, lemon juice and half of the basil. If fresh basil- if fresh basil is not available add a couple teaspoons of dried basil-fresh is always better though. Reduce heat, blend in Parmesan cheese and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbly. If you prefer a thick sauce you can cook until the sauce has reduced to a thick sauce, about 15 minutes.
4. Place fish in a shallow baking dish. Cover with the sauce mixture and bake in preheated oven 15-20 minutes depending on the fish used. Fish should flake easily with a fork when done, except for the mahi mahi which flakes when done, just not easily.

Reviews

[Buster's friend]

Worked very well for our Christmas Eve fresh 2# flounder supper for two. Served with Brocoli-rabe ravioli sauteed with brocoli florets, garlic & pinenuts. Wonderful! Merry Christmas! Thanks for posting kda949

[Neohippie]

This turned out fine for me. I didn't have any capers or onions so I left those out, but I did put in an anchovy fillet and double the garlic. I also left out the italian seasoning and just went with fresh basil from my garden, and left out the parmesan cheese and served it over parmesan cheese polenta. People who didn't like the recipe may just need to tweak it to their own tastes. This is actually similar to a way I had been making tilapia before, baked with tomato sauce, but I think I like this way better. The olives add an excellent flavor to normally bland fish.

[Chef Tweaker]

I wonder at the vast difference in reviews. Unfortunately I have to join Sherri Dodsworth with mine. I think there maybe are too many variables. For example I would have found a more exact measure helpful for the olives. Kalamatas come in many sizes and mine were extra large so I used about 1/4 cup chopped. The flavor wasn't overwhelming at all so maybe I didn't use enough. I had planned on skipping the capers since I didn't have any but since the olives weren't flavoring enough I added 4 Tbs of chopped green olives instead since they have a similar flavor. I omitted the cheese due to allergies in the fam. I used flounder. Maybe that was the problem. I did not cover it and it turned out all watery and mushy like Sherri mentioned. I cooked it for 15 minutes and didn't check it before so I regret that. Maybe the halibut or mahi mahi would stand up to this sauce better or even the salmon that someone else mentioned. I didn't like it enough to try again.