Christmas Eve Pesce con Salsa di Pomodoro/ Fish in Tomato Sauce

 Pesce con Salsa di Pomodoro/Fish in Tomato Sauce

@mangia.con.elena

Several of my friends and myself have been collaborating together on our Instagram pages to share traditional Italian fish dishes for the Feast of the Seven Fishes celebration that many Italians honour. These dishes are from different regions and this particular dish can be found in several regions of Italy, with different names! It has been a great experience getting to know these women in this group and also getting to learn about the variety of Italian traditions.

Christmas Eve in my family was and still is my most favourite holiday. This special night is about the sharing of food, the gathering  of friends, family and togetherness. Growing up, there were few gifts under our Christmas tree. Babo Natale arrived early in the morning to bring us a stocking (an actual sock) with a few chocolates, some nuts and a mandarin. It was tradition in Italy to receive a mandarin and/or nuts in your sock as your gift. My mother would tell me that receiving a mandarin and some nuts was a treat as those were hard to find during the war. I don't recall ever being sad or resentful that our tree was not loaded with gifts. We were grateful for the one or two gifts with our names on it. 

My mother would spend all day preparing our wonderful feast. We did not celebrate The Feast of the Seven Fishes but we did have our own tradition of serving 12 dishes. One dish for each apostle.  A plate was left out for Baby Jesus overnight to snack on to let him know that we are welcoming him to the world. My mother grew up honouring these traditions and we continue to do so today. 

We feasted on Pesce, pasta con tonno, a variety of vegetables, salad and trays of bread, fennel, olives and cheese. And lots of wine of course. Dessert was always italian dolci , torrone and chocolates. After dinner we would walk down to my Godmother and Godfather's house and gather there with several families for drinks, laughs, card playing and loud conversation. We would then walk to church for midnight mass and sit with many other relatives and friends. There were so many of us! It was an incredible night. Of course, it looks different now with everyone living far away from each other. We don't gather like we used to, especially this year. But our hearts will always hold these special memories close. Today, in our house, we combine Italian traditions with German ones to honour both heritages of our children. 

Pesce con salsa di pomodoro was the primo piatto my mother would make. This dish is a bit spicy, but with all Italian food, let your taste buds be your guide. In Italian, we use the term "Quanto basta" (QB) when using a recipe because each recipe becomes unique through your own taste preferences. QB means "when it is enough". So you decide how spicy, garlicky or saucy you want it to be! There is no perfect way to make this! This is what I love the most about Italian cooking!!!!

I used fresh tomatoes for this as I found some beautiful hot house vine ripened ones at the store. You can certainly used canned. Just make sure they are whole plum san marzano type tomatoes. Diced or crushed tomatoes have too much water in them. You will crush the tomatoes in a bowl with your hands to your desired consistency. Serve this on a bed of rice or grains of your choice. I used brown rice but have also used lentils and quinoa!

 Ingredients

• 4-8 fillets of white fish of your choice ( halibut, cod or sole will do)

• 10-12 fresh tomatoes quartered or 1 can tomatoes crushed by hand

• 3/4 cup of white wine 

• 2-3 garlic cloves peeled but whole

• 2 shallots or one medium sweet onion

• fresh basil and parsley (QB)

• 2 tsp of dried oregano

• peperoncino or dried chilies (QB)

Directions

1. Heat up olive oil in a large deep saute pan that has a lid. Add garlic and be careful not to burn the cloves. Toast them until golden brown and remove.

2. Add onions and peperoncino and let simmer until onions are translucent (about 5 minutes). Low simmer so not to burn

3. Add wine and allow alcohol to evaporate and liquid to reduce

4. Add quartered tomatoes, salt and pepper and torn basil to pan. Cover and let tomatoes turn into a sauce. Smash tomatoes with a wooden spoon to release juices. This should take about 15 minutes. If too dry, add some stock to the pan. Taste test and adjust salt if needed

5. Add fish and oregano. Maintain at a steady simmer and put lid on pan. Fish will poach in the sauce. Check every once in a while. If it is too liquidy, then remove lid once fish is done and allow some liquid to evaporate.

Your primo piatto is ready! Serve over grain, sprinkle with parsley and drizzle some olive oil

Con amore,

Elena 💜