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Grilled Fish
Served with Ratatouille
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Serves 4
Prep time: 30 minutes Total time: 45 minutes |
- 1-1/2 lbs. tomatoes
- 1 lb. small zucchini
- 1 green bell pepper, preferably organic
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1 bunch fresh thyme
- 1 bunch flat leaf (Italian) parsley
- 1 lemon, preferably organic
- 24 oz. Lingcod or Tilapia fillets
- A crusty baguette
Shopping List
- Bay leaves
- Black pepper
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Garlic
- Sea salt
Pantry Items
- Aluminum foil
- Bread knife
- Chef’s knife
- Heavy skillet
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Paring knife
- Spatula
- Wooden spoons
Tools
- Wine: Try a nice, dry Rosé with this one.
- Dessert: Fruit sorbet
- Ratatouille makes terrific leftovers. Try it for breakfast with a poached egg.
Suggestions
- When you walk in the door
- Refrigerate the fillets
- Preheat the grill or the broiler, adjust the rack
- Get out Pantry Items
- Get out Tools
- Assemble the ingredients
- Open the wine and refrigerate
- Get someone to set the table
- Prep
- Core the tomatoes.
- Cut the tomatoes in half, crosswise, and gently squeeze out the seeds.
- Rinse and trim the ends from the zucchini, cut it into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Core and seed the bell pepper, cut it into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Rinse the eggplant, and cut off the stem end and cut it into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Peel and coarsely chop the onion.
- Strip 1 tsp. thyme leaves.
- Rinse and pat dry the parsley. Pluck ½ cup leaves.
- Peel and mince 1 clove garlic.
- Rinse the lemon and cut it into super-thin rounds (use a mandolin
if you have one)
- Remove any bones from the fish fillets, and rub them with olive oil.
- Arrange rounds of lemon on top of each fillet, put the fish on a piece of foil and refrigerate.
- Start Cooking
- Heat 2 tbsps. olive oil in the heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the eggplant, salt it lightly, and cook it, shaking and stirring, until it begins to turn golden, about 4 minutes. Remove it from the skillet.
- Add 1 tbsp. olive oil to the skillet then add the zucchini, the onions, and the bell pepper. Season lightly with salt.
- Cook the vegetables, stirring, until they start to turn golden at the edges, and become soft, about 4 minutes.
- Add the thyme, the bay leaf, and the garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, until the bell pepper and onion are almost soft, about 3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir. Season lightly with salt and a couple of grinds of pepper, and cook until the tomatoes come to a boil, about 4 minutes.
- Mince the parsley.
- Put the fillets (in the foil) on the grill.
- Add the eggplant and any oil around it to the vegetables in the pan, stir and continue cooking for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer it to a serving dish.
- Check the fish – it’s probably cooked through – it only takes a few minutes. If it isn’t, no problem. Leave it on the grill until it is cooked. The ratatouille is delicious at any temperature.
- When the fish is cooked, season it with salt and pepper, and remove it from the grill.
- Time to get everyone to the table. Have them carry the ratatouille and the bread.
- Put the fillets on a platter, and take that along with the wine. Dinner’s on!
