Cod Livornese
Cod Livornese is an absolutely superb way to liven up the humble codfish. This recipe is from Livorno an Italian port city on the west coast of Tuscany. Cooking in Livornesestyle is quite simple. All you really need is fresh cod, olives, capers, garlic, parsley, and white wine. You can add a little chili pepper or red pepper flakes to spice things up a bit. Sometimes I’ll add a very small amount of honey to balance the heat of the dish when using hot pepper. But that’s also optional too. As you proceed with this recipe you will find what is best for your taste buds and create a very delicious Cod Livornese for your healthy catch of the day.
Cod Livornese Your Catch of the Day!
(serves 2 people)
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 2 filets of Cod, 6 ounces each
- 10 ounces of mini San Marzano (or cherry) tomatoes (kept whole)
- 1/2 cup of tomato sauce
- 2 cloves garlic chopped fine
- 25 Kalamata olives, pitted, and cut into halves
- 1-ounce of capers
- 2 bunches of parsley rinsed off, shook dry, and chopped
- 1 chili pepper or 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine such as Chardonnay
- 1 teaspoon of honey (optional)
- Olive oil for cooking
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
Procedure
Saute garlic, chili, and parsley.
- Add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a saute pan set over medium heat.
- Once the oil is slightly hot add in the garlic, chopped parsley, and the chili pepper if using it.
- Saute gently for 2-3 minutes or until the garlic starts to turn golden brown.
Tip: While these ingredients are gently sauteing you can prepare the Codfish. Rinse the fish off under cold running water and pat them dry.
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- The seasoned Codfish
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- Remove the fish and set it aside.
- Increase the heat on the saute pan to medium-high. Add in the Cod and let it cook for 3-4 minutes on one side. Using a fish spatula carefully turn over the fish to finish cooking for another two minutes or so. Then remove the fish to a plate and proceed with making the sauce.
- Deglaze the pan with the white wine and let it reduce for 3-4 minutes. Then add in the mini San Marzano tomatoes.
- Once the tomatoes begin to soften crush them with the back of a fork to extract all their sweet delicious juices.
Crushed San Marzano tomatoes.
- Once you have crushed all the tomatoes let them cook over a medium to low flame for about 4-5 minutes or until the juices thicken a little.
- Then add in the olives, capers, tomato sauce, and honey (if using) and stir them well to combine. Cook for 2-3 minutes so that the flavors can amalgamate.
- Add the Cod along with any juices that accumulated on the holding plate to the pan.
- Spoon some sauce over the Cod and let it gently heat up for about five minutes. You can use a cover at this point.
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- Finishing the Livornese sauce
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- The ffinished dish.
- Once the Cod is heated you can serve it family style from the saute pan or portioned on individual plates.