By Ann Maloney
Most of us who cook nearly every night have an easy-to-make dish or two that we prepare from memory. Bonus: When that dish can be made from ingredients that we almost always have in our kitchen cupboards and refrigerator.
Puttanesca, which is a very fragrant and spicy, easy-to-make sauce, falls into that category for me. I rarely make it exactly the same way.
Canned tomatoes and anchovies, capers and briny kalamata olives almost always form the base of the sauce, which then gets a sprinkling of dry spices, such as oregano and crushed red pepper flakes, or maybe basil.
The one-pot sauce is cheap, fast and delivers big flavour. How many dishes you can say that about?
Usually, I toss it together in about 15 minutes, heat it up and spoon it over spaghetti.
This recipe for halibut puttanesca from America’s Test Kitchen reminded me that the sauce can do so much more. After making this, I’ve started using it as a base to cook other proteins.
Halibut Puttanesca (Serves 4)
This quick, pantry-friendly take on puttanesca sauce is one you'll want to keep in your back pocket because while it’s great with halibut, as well as cod, dorado, striped bass or swordfish, it’s also terrific with chicken, pork chops and fried tofu – or simply spooned atop pasta. Briny anchovies, capers and olives add big flavour. Canned tomatoes make it easy to make in any season. Serve with bread so you can sop up the sauce, and a simple green salad, if you like.
Ingredients
4 (110g to 170g) skinless halibut fillets, 2.5cm-thick
¼ tsp fine salt
½ tsp finely ground black pepper
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 shallot (56g), minced
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 (56g) can anchovies in oil, drained and chopped
2 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 (410g) can diced tomatoes
½ cup (about 20) pitted whole kalamata olives
¼ cup capers, rinsed
¼ cup fresh parsley leaves
Method
Position the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 180°C. Sprinkle the halibut with salt and pepper.
In a large, oven-safe, non-stick pan combine the oil, shallot, garlic, anchovies, oregano and pepper flakes, if using. Set the skillet over medium-low heat and cook, stirring, until the shallot begins to soften, about 4 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes and their juice, olives and capers, then nestle the halibut into the sauce. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the sauce to a simmer.
Transfer the uncovered skillet to the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the fish flakes apart when gently prodded with a paring knife.
Using a spatula, transfer the halibut to a serving platter. Stir the sauce to recombine, then spoon it over the halibut. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve, family-style.
Adapted from “More Mediterranean” (America's Test Kitchen, 2021).