eat more fish: salmon livornese

I’m not a new year’s resolutions person, but I do like a reminder now and then to do better. And one of those things to make me a better person involves eating more fish. I’m always on the look out for a good fish recipe. A friend of mine had made this for me for dinner over the holidays and it was so delicious that I asked for the recipe. She used red snapper but I had some salmon filets so I used that instead and I decided to add in some lemon zest as well. It’s a pretty versatile dish, so you could sub in most any fish fillet that you have on hand.

The tomatoes, capers and olives make this a tangy and flavourful sauce. I used to be a bit afraid of mixing tomatoes and fish (due to a bad fish dish my mom made when I was a kid), but that fear is definitely over. It doesn’t take much preparation and the ingredients are all readily available. It’s perfect for guests or just a cozy night in. Serve with steamed rice, broccoli and a nice red wine.

18 comments to “eat more fish: salmon livornese”

  1. 1
    Bijoux   January 16, 2009 at 11:19 am

    Ahhh, there it is! Thanks for posting this. I, too, need to be eating fish, more than just once a month, but not living near the sea/ocean has its limitations. Good quality fish is so expensive here.

  2. 2
    Maija   January 16, 2009 at 12:41 pm

    Oh, this is much like one of my classic go-to recipes for fish – works for most types and I usually have the ingredients on hand. I don't do lemon in mine, but that sounds good.

    My variations are that I use a variety of Greek olives from the olive bar (black & green) and I add thyme & a little veggie stock. It's great served over couscous, btw.

  3. 3
    Hayley   January 16, 2009 at 2:54 pm

    Salmon is my best friends favorite. I’ll have to make this for her when we go back to school. Thanks!

  4. 4
    Meg   January 16, 2009 at 2:47 pm

    This sounds great! I love ANYTHING with capers.
    I would eat fish every day if I could, but because of mercury poisoning I don’t think I ever will.

  5. 5
    Joanne   January 17, 2009 at 5:33 am

    I actually had this dish at an Italian restaurant recently, except they used striped bass instead of salmon. It was delicious and I have been meaning to try to recreate it. I am also on a mission this year to eat more fish, and salmon is definitely my favorite!

  6. 6
    cheryl   January 17, 2009 at 11:32 am

    I’m with you. I think about eating fish a lot, but I actually follow through far less than I intend.

    And when I looked at my behemoth cookbook collection a week ago, I was stunned to see I don’t have a single fish cookbook. I plan to take care of that immediately.

  7. 7
    CookiePie   January 18, 2009 at 4:40 am

    That looks so delicious, and really satisfying!

  8. 8
    Dawna   January 18, 2009 at 9:40 am

    The sauce reminds me of a creole dish my mother used to make with white-fleshed fish. It had celery and green bell pepper, too. This looks quite interesting.

  9. 9
    kickpleat   January 18, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    bijoux, we’re lucky here as we can get reasonable prices on all kinds of fresh fish.

    maija, sounds good…and next time i make this i’ll try couscous instead of rice. thanks!

    meg, i agree, capers are awesome! and i think fish once in awhile is a-okay!

    hayley, i’m sure your friend will love it!

    joanne, good luck! i hope you can tweak this so it’s as good as your restaurant version!

    cheryl, get on with fish! don’t be afraid!

    cookiepie, it’s so very yummy!

    dawna, i’m sure with a few tweaks this could easily be a creole dish!

  10. 10
    mari   January 18, 2009 at 9:07 pm

    Hi! I found you through Patricia (Technicolor Kitchen). What a lovely blog! And I love your cards at your Etsy shop. By the way, this dish would work well with Tilapia, too. I think you can leave it in the oven for about 16 – 18 minutes.

  11. 11
    Cakespy   January 19, 2009 at 9:38 am

    That sounds f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c! So flavorful. I know that salmon has a lot of vitamin d, which is an extra bonus living in the great sunless northwest!

  12. 12
    Bettina Groh   January 19, 2009 at 8:37 pm

    I tried it and it was great! I used frozen/thawed salmon filets since we live in Missouri. But my brother-in-law has a trout farm in Tenn with some in the catch-out pond weighing about 5 lbs. Wouldn’t this recipe be a great way to use some of them?

  13. 13
    kickpleat   January 20, 2009 at 8:11 pm

    mari, indeed, it can be made with many kinds of fish! thanks for the timing too 🙂

    don’t i know it, cakespy! luckily this week has been lovely (despite the fog).

    glad you liked this, bettina! and definitely yes, it would be great with trout!

  14. 14
    Caviar and Codfish   January 21, 2009 at 1:00 pm

    Jim and I had always hated olives, now all of a sudden we are both in love with them. Weird. But this is perfect. : )

  15. 15
    Lydia   January 21, 2009 at 11:34 pm

    I just resolved (2 days ago, not on new year’s) to eat more fish and beans instead of meat, so I will have to try out some of these recipes.

  16. 16
    kickpleat   January 22, 2009 at 9:15 pm

    caviar, my husband hates olives but he’ll eat them in this. i think because they’re the canned kind and less potent!

    lydia, i hope you enjoy this! yeah, i’m trying to eat more fish…i already eat beans up the wazoo!

  17. 17
    Dazy   September 14, 2009 at 2:25 am

    Meat is my family favorite. But fish is preferred at my in laws. This recipe is definitely a keeper to make them surprise at the Pujas.

  18. 18
    Erik Marcus   September 15, 2009 at 11:42 pm

    I've got to respond to your blog entry's eat-fish-to-be-a-better-person argument.

    I think the more you read about the state of the oceans, the clearer it gets that fish — especially top predators like tuna and salmon — aren't sufficiently numerous to go around. I personally feel an obligation to abstain from fish for the sake of the world's hungry, for the sake of marine life, and for the sake of the fish themselves — who probably value their lives more than I value their flavor.

    This recent Time magazine article is well worth reading:

    http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914078,00.html

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