Whitefish in Tomato Sauce with Olives

Flaky whitefish baked in a light tomato sauce with garlic and kalamata olives. Ridiculously easy, quick, healthy and you can use extra tomato sauce to make a side of pasta by the time the fish bakes.

I think we could all use something simple right about now, yes? Something you don’t have to think about. Something to keep your hands busy. Here’s my humble contribution: a delicious Italian fish recipe.

It’s perfect for a quick weeknight meal, but it feels luxurious enough to be a date-night kinda jam. It’s my go-to Lenten Friday meal—Catholicious! It’s really, really tasty.

One of the things I love about this dish is that it’s so fresh and light that it’s hard to believe the tomatoes came from a can. The fish is flaky and soft, the sauce is fruity and sweet.

Whitefish in Red Sauce is the perfect example of laid back Mediterranean cooking. Walk to the market in the morning. Fish looks good! So you bring it home, pop open a can of tomatoes and some olives, add a little garlic and some oregano from the garden, drizzle a little olive oil, throw it in the oven for a few minutes. That’s dinner!

Simple. Practical. Delicious. Cliche thinking? Maybe, but it can be soul-saving when you’re in a mundane routine with wanderlust.

What exactly is “whitefish”?

This recipe was inspired by the Italian branzino con pomodori e olive (branzino with tomatoes and olives). The thing is… branzino is a European bass. A.k.a., hard to find in the U.S. (or at least my portion of it), and probably not the freshest find locally.

My take: use the freshest whitefish you can find. You want something flaky and light. My favorite is flounder, but I used tilapia for these photos because that was what I could find in the store that day.

How to hand-crush tomatoes

You can use diced or crushed tomatoes if that’s what you have, but I prefer the texture and flavor of whole tomatoes. It adds maybe 1-2 minutes to the process, nothing major. It tends to splatter, so maybe wear an apron.

1. Hold a canned plum tomato over a bowl (or better yet, IN a bowl), making a fist around it. Face the stem side toward your pinky.
2. Carefully put your thumb through the center of the bottom of the tomato, and squeeze gently.
3. Now that most of the juice is out, squeeze really had like the tomato is your brain and you’re trying to rid it off all the coronavirus stuff you’ve read on Facebook and the pangs of longing for normal interaction and madness creeping in.
4. You’ve got the beginnings of a tomato sauce!

Cool, I think that was productive.

What you should make with Whitefish in Tomato Sauce with Olives

I use a double-serving of the sauce in this recipe, because I always make it with Bucatini with Tomatoes, Olives and White Beans (pictured throughout this post). All you have to do is boil the pasta, then add the sauce, some white beans and canned tomato sauce for a pasta that comes together as quickly as the fish.

If you just want to make the fish, a 14-oz can is just fine! Just halve the amount of garlic, olives and oregano. Or use the extra sauce to make more fish.

Or maybe you’re like me and always ask for extra sauce anyway.

Dried or fresh oregano?

Dried oregano is a major stable in the Cavalier house, so I typically use that. I do use fresh oregano in the summer sometimes, but it’s one of the more flavorful dried herbs.

Fresh oregano is bold and peppery with a minty kick. Dried oregano is still pungent, but has a warmer, more earthy flavor. It’s still a little spicy, but it’s less in-your-face than fresh.

If you do want to use fresh, up the amount to about a tablespoon. It’s also nice sprinkled on top, like in these photos.

This dish has never disappointed. The family I used to cook for would order it at least once a week, and probably more if I had offered it more often.

Try it out with Bucatini with Tomatoes, Olives and White Beans and let me know what you think!

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