Red Snapper Livornese

As many of you know, I am really into history, especially European history during medieval times and the Renaissance so I wanted to make a dish from that era.  This dish comes from an area of Italy called Livorno which is in the Tuscany region, in English it's called Leghorn.  Livorno, at that time,  was ruled by Fernando I de Medici, Grand Duke of the powerful Medici family.  This recipe has roots in Livorno's Jewish population of that time period when the Grand Duke attracted many Jewish immigrants to that area after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal.

The ingredients go so well together and it's very low fat as well.  You can make it with most types of white fish; Red Mullet *(which is what the original Renaissance recipe calls for), Tilapia, Grouper, Sea Bass, etc.  *Red Mullet is indigenous to the Mediterranean area.

Red Snapper Livornese

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 lbs. red snapper fillets (or any other non fatty white fish as I mentioned above)

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 (15 oz) can of chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp. capers, chopped

1/2-3/4 cup sliced black olives

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

2 tbsp. Italian parsley, chopped

1-2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper, to taste* (not too much as the mixture will be salty and peppery from the olives, capers and red pepper flakes)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  

In a non stick skillet or Dutch oven heat the oil over low heat and saute onions until tender, about 5-6 minutes.  Stirring occasionally.  Add garlic and stir constantly for about 1 minute. Add in tomatoes, capers, black olives, parsley, pepper flakes, salt and pepper.*  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

In a large baking dish, spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce on the bottom of the pan and lay the fish over it.  Drizzle the lemon juice over the fish fillets and add the rest of the sauce over the fish.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork.

Enjoy!