GEOFF’s Fish Ligurian Style…

The fish arrived at the table finished with orange, not lemon. We were in La Spezia, at the southern end of Cinque Terre, deep in lemon country – the streets, the shops, the souvenir stalls all say lemon. The sauce had Taggiasca olives, pine nuts, fresh thyme, and that orange, and the combination is what I’ve been chasing since. I used gurnard the first time I cooked it at home. Now I use knifejaw from Fair Seafood – line caught off Cape Jaffa, white-fleshed and sweet, and it handles like any good white fillet. You could use lemon. I think the orange is right.

⏱️ Preparation Time: 15 minutes
🍳 Cooking Time: 12-15 minutes
🍽️ Serves: 6

👩‍🍳 Cooking Method: Induction or Gas stovetp

📝 Ingredients:

• 900gm knifejaw fillets, skinless, approximately 150gm per person; fillets vary in size so use a couple to make up the weight, portioning a larger fillet if needed – see Notes for alternatives
• 20ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 15gm unsalted butter
• 4 garlic cloves (20gm), finely sliced
• 120gm Taggiasca olives, whole (Bottega 1995)
• 30gm capers, rinsed and drained
• 150ml dry white wine – Vermentino or a dry Clare Valley Riesling
• 60-100ml fish stock, optional – see Notes
• Zest and juice of 2 large oranges (approx. 100ml juice, 10gm zest)
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 50gm pine nuts, lightly toasted
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped, to finish

👩‍🍳 Method:

1. Pat the fillets dry with paper towel and season on both sides with sea salt and black pepper. Rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over induction setting 7 (gas low-medium flame), shaking regularly, until golden or about 45 seconds. Remove immediately or they will continue to colour and burn in the pan.
3. Heat the extra virgin olive oil and butter together in a wide, heavy-based pan over induction setting 5 (gas low-medium flame). When the butter foams and subsides, place the fillets in the pan. Cook gently – you are not searing. Turn once when the flesh is opaque about 80% of the way through for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a warm plate and tent loosely with foil. Residual heat will carry the fish the rest of the way while you build the sauce.
4. In the same pan over induction setting 5 (gas medium flame), add the garlic and thyme sprigs. Cook for 1 minute until the garlic softens without colouring.
5. Add the olives and capers. Stir for 30 seconds, then deglaze with the white wine, scraping up any caramelised bits from the pan. Reduce by half, about 2 minutes. If using fish stock, add now and simmer for a further 2 minutes.
6. Add the orange juice and zest. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Taste for salt – the olives and capers carry salt, so add carefully. Remove the thyme sprigs.
7. Nestle the fillets back into the pan and spoon the sauce over them. 60 seconds to warm through – the fish is already cooked.
8. Scatter the toasted pine nuts over and serve immediately.

🥣 Serving Instructions:

1. Oven-baked chips work well in winter – the sauce settles into them.
2. A green salad of watercress, rocket, or fennel dressed with olive oil and white balsamic.
3. Crusty sourdough alongside to carry the sauce.
4. A twist of orange zest and a few flat-leaf parsley leaves over each plate to finish.
5. Pair with a dry Vermentino, a Clare Valley Riesling, or a light Fiano.

📝 Notes:

• Knifejaw is line caught off Cape Jaffa via Fair Seafood – white-fleshed, sweet, and skinless. Gurnard and flathead are good alternatives. Barramundi is the broadly recognised Australian equivalent of European sea bass, the traditional fish for this Ligurian preparation.
• Taggiasca olives are small, mild Ligurian olives, traditionally sold and served whole. The pit is easy to work around at the table. Available at Bottega 1995. Castelvetrano or a mild Sicilian variety are the closest substitutes – Kalamata will overpower the sauce.
• Fish stock added after the wine reduction gives the sauce more body. Frozen stock cubes work well – drop one or two directly into the pan.
• Fillets vary considerably in size from the fishmonger. Aim for 150gm per person across however many pieces it takes. When cooking fillets of uneven thickness, thinner pieces will reach 80% before thicker ones. So, start the thinner ones last and rest together under foil.
• The sauce can be made ahead to the point of adding the orange. Reheat gently and add the juice just before the fish goes back in.

Download Recipe Here

🧊Storage:

Fridge Friendly Instructions:

Store in a glass container (400-500gm serves 2) for up to 2 days.

Steam oven: 80°C, 80% steam, 6-8 minutes.

Conventional oven: 160°C Fan Plus, covered with foil, 8-10 minutes.

Stovetop: low heat with a splash of white wine, lid on, 3-4 minutes.

Microwave: cover loosely, 60% power, 90 seconds.

Freezer Friendly Instructions:

Not recommended – the sauce and fish flesh both deteriorate on freezing

🥗Nutritional (6 servings, amount per serving):

• Calories – 320
• Kilojoules – 1,339
• Total Fat – 17gm
• Saturated fat – 3gm
• Monounsaturated Fat – 9gm
• Polyunsaturated Fat – 3gm
• Trans Fat – 0gm
• Cholesterol – 85mg
• Sodium – 490mg
• Potassium – 640mg
• Total Carbohydrate – 7gm
• Dietary Fibre – 1gm
• Sugars – 5gm
• Protein – 30gm
• Vitamin A – 5%
• Vitamin C – 18%
• Calcium – 5%
• Iron – 10% 

*The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie / 8370 Kilojoule diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie/kilojoule needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated.