Backed white fish with olives and a simple tomato sauce

I’m a great believer in a simple tomato sauce. The recipe I’ve given you here can be used with all sorts of dishes – I’ve shown you how to tweak it to go with fish, but you can try using it with anything from pasta to grilled chicken.

Ingredients

• • 3 cloves of garlic
• • a small bunch of fresh basil
• • olive oil
• • 1 fresh large red chilli
• • 2 x 400g tins tomatoes
• • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• • red wine vinegar
• • 2 x 150g white fish fillets such as flat head, snapper or whiting, skin off and bones removed
• • a handful of Kamalata olives, stone in
• • 1 tablespoon capers, drained

To make your sauce

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• Peel and finely slice the garlic cloves
• Pick the basil leaves and put aside, finely slice the stalks
• Add a good couple of lugs of olive oil to a large pan on a medium heat

To make your sauce

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• Add the garlic and basil stalks
• Pierce the chilli once with a knife so it doesn’t explode when frying, and add to the pan
• Fry gently until the garlic is soft but not coloured, stirring occasionally

To make your sauce

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• Add the tins of tomatoes
• Lightly season with salt and pepper
• Gently simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes

To make your sauce

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• Remove the chilli
• Break and mush the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon
• Season the sauce really carefully with more salt and pepper if needed, and add a tiny swig of red wine vinegar to give it a little twang

To prepare and cook your fish

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• Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7
• Pour your tomato sauce into a baking dish (approximately 20cm x 30cm)
• Season the fish fillets on both sides with a little salt and pepper, then place on top of the sauce
• Squash the olives, using the base of a jar or something heavy, and remove the stones

To prepare and cook your fish

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• Sprinkle the olives and capers over the fish
• Scatter over the reserved basil leaves
• Drizzle everything with olive oil
• Cook in the oven for around 15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through
• Lovely served with new potatoes and a green salad (see Simple green salad with French dressing)