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Fish ought to be simple, quick to prepare, and fun to eat. This fish puttanesca fits the bill. Chunks of firm, white fish, floured and fried, then tossed with all the great flavors of a traditional Italian puttanesca sauce.
A what? Those who know Italian or even Spanish can guess at the origin of this sauce; it means “harlot’s sauce.” There are lots of legends about its name, but the one I like best is that the ladies of the evening, after a long night’s work, could whip this up in the predawn hours — before any markets opened — eat a good meal and finally catch some sleep.
The key to a puttanesca sauce is that pretty much everything would either be in her pantry or growing on her windowsill. Fresh herbs, salted capers and anchovies, olives, an onion, maybe a clove of garlic or two. Some canned tomatoes, or fresh ones sitting on her kitchen counter. Maybe a hot chile or three.
The result is powerful. Salty, herby, sour and a little sweet from the tomatoes. It is ideal for a big fish like tuna, swordfish or sturgeon — and tuna puttanesca is a thing in Italy — but will work with any sort of firm, white fish. I used halibut, but don’t let that stop you if you don’t have any. Play with it.
Normally I’ll dust the fish with regular flour, but there is an alternative that is both delicious and gluten-free: chickpea flour. It will actually give you fish even more golden than with flour, and has a bit of nutty flavor, too.
All told, fish puttanesca is a spectacular quick-and-easy meal for a weeknight.
I have a few similar dishes from Italy you might like, from Glutton’s Style Fish to my spaghetti with crab sauce. A good appetizer that goes well with fish puttanesca is shrimp or scallop scampi, or salt cod fritters.
Fish Puttanesca
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds halibut or other firm fish, cut into chunks
- Salt
- 2 cups regular or chickpea flour, for dusting
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 shallot or small onion, minced
- 2 cups diced tomatoes, fresh or canned
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 12-20 olives, sliced
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup chopped basil, parsley or tarragon
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Salt the fish well and dust with the flour.
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When it's hot, brown the fish pieces in batches. Sear several sides of the chunks so they're nicely browned. Set the fish aside as it browns.
- When all the fish is done, add the shallot and cook for 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds.
- Return the fish to the pan and add all the remaining ingredients. Toss to combine, and cook for 1 to 2 more minutes. Serve with crusty bread, polenta or rice.
Notes
Keys to Success
- This comes together quickly so have everything all set up before you begin.
- AP flour is perfectly fine here, although I do really like the chickpea flour. It add flavor and browns well.
- I like pitted black Kalamata olives for this recipe, but any olive you want will work.
- Get the small capers. They're better. Even better? Get them packed in salt.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hank I’m a huge fan from South Jersey. You have also been in touch with a very good friend/mentor of mine – Jode Hillman about Rail Birds. Anyway in reference to onions specifically, does “mince” = “dice”. I mince garlic, horseradish, ginger etc…never onions. Thanks and keep up on the good work!
Chris: Mince is a chef’s term for very small dice, but not necessarily actual dice, which are cubes. If you tell me to dice something in a professional kitchen, the way I take it is you want me to give you smallish cubes. If you want teeny perfect cubes, that’s a brunoise. Mince is just something chopped very finely. Hope that helps!
A+ recipe, I use this on Lake Erie smallmouth all the time.
The briny tang of the olive-caper-tomato mix goes amazingly well with halibut!
This sounds fantastic. Have to give it a try. Thank you.
Delicious! Thanks Hank!
One of my favorite fish recipes of all time. I had never heard of Puttanesca until a couple months ago and have probably made this every two weeks since. It’s great with Halibut and Chinook Salmon too. I wouldn’t hesitate to make this with Rockfish, Lingcod, Northern Pike, Walleye, catfish, you name it! I have been skipping the flouring…which has worked out just fine!
My absolute favorite way to prepare halibut. So very savory and delicious. This is my go to for any white firm fish I pull out of the freezer.
Can’t wait to try this recipe with drum.
This is the best internet recipe I’ve ever made! I added lemon zest to the fish before flouring.
This recipe is a keeper. I made it with some white bass from a lake here in Texas. Excellent, as usual Hank.
Halibut is incredibly expensive around here. If I bought it, at north of $25/lb., I wouldn’t put any seasoning on it as strong as the olives and capers you suggest. I’d just cook it simply, eat it, and give thanks.
Made a believer of my less-than-enthused-about-olives-and-capers husband. Used lingcod, it was delicious.
Thank you so very much for giving a gluten free variation to this recipe!!!
Outstanding. I prepared this with Mahi Mahi and served over risotto. We enjoyed this on a weeknight, but it’s nice enough to serve for a casual dinner party.
This looks unreal. Looking forward to giving it a try!
Made this evening. I just happened to have everything on hand. Delicious.
This is one of my regular go-to dishes when camping. Throw the sauce ingredients in a quart mason jar with frozen halibut or cod in the cooler, and cook over a campfire with crusty bread, lots of wine, and good friends. Awesome!
I LOVE your podcasts in fact right now I am listening to your Fish Fry one! I am intimidated to cook fish and would LOVE a fish recipe book!
Looks delish!!! I want to go to the store now and grab everything to make of it
Love this so colorful dish. It looks so delicious in those pictures. Great combination of so healthy ingredients. Planning to make it for dinner.