Red Mullet with Spicy Tomato Sauce

[Recipes Index] [World of Chefs]

Ingredients:

• 8 small red mullet, whole, cleaned and scaled
• 1 finely chopped celery stalk
• 3 cups chopped fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes
• 3 crushed and finely chopped garlic cloves
• 1 finely chopped red chili pepper with the seeds removed
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt

Preparation:

Soak the red mullet in cold salted water for fifteen minutes and dry before adding the fish to the following sauce. While the fish are soaking, prepare the sauce.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over low heat, add the garlic and one half of the parsley. After about two to three minutes or when the aroma of the garlic first appears, add the chopped tomatoes, celery and as much of the chopped chili pepper as you prefer based upon your taste for mild, moderate or strong spiciness. Stir, add the wine, cover and simmer for about fifteen minutes. Season with salt to taste. Place the fish in the pan with the sauce. Do not turn the fish over. Cover and simmer for approximately fifteen to twenty minutes or until the fish are cooked. Transfer to warm plates, sprinkle with the remaining parsley and serve.

Click for larger photo