Cook this: Halibut with eggplant caponata and tomato coriander sauce
A few weeks ago, the weather in Victoria was officially, undeniably awful. There was torrential rain, blown sideways and splattered violently against the windows by the wind, and grey skies so heavy and low that it almost felt claustrophobic to go outside. Since venturing out into the elements was decidedly unappealing, I chose instead to spend the afternoon in the kitchen putting together a dinner with its roots in a much sunnier place: Sicily.
I find Sicilian food to be fascinating. The sun-baked island may be thoroughly Italian, but its cuisine takes subtle cues from classic North African flavour combinations (saffron, cinnamon, couscous and raisins all make appearances in the region’s foods) as a result of Arab domination in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The result? Sicilian dishes are packed with bright flavours and interesting sweet-tart combinations, and they’re definitely different than most people’s perceptions of “classic” Italian cuisine. One of the region’s specialties is caponata, a mixture of fried eggplant, onions, tomatoes, sweet raisins, briny capers, and, yes, even a little bit of chocolate. It’s traditionally served on slices of bread as an appetizer, but I decided to bump this particular caponata up a notch: It would be starring as the main course, topping a slice of buttery baked halibut and accented with a brightly flavourful tomato coriander sauce. The recipe is fairly long on ingredients, but the preparation is simple and the recipe yields a lot of caponata – keep some in the fridge and spread it on crusty bread for a quick, healthy lunch the next day.
Ingredients
- Halibut (or other firm white fish) fillets
For the caponata…
- Olive oil
- 2 medium eggplants, cut into 1″ cubes
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup canned tomatoes, crushed
- 1/2 cup green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/4 cup capers (preferably salt-packed), rinsed and drained
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons finely grated unsweetened chocolate
- 1/2 cup finely shredded basil
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the tomato sauce
- 1 cup canned tomatoes, crushed
- 2 – 3 yellow tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander seed
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
First, prepare the tomato coriander sauce…
- In a saucepan over medium heat, simmer the canned tomatoes for about half an hour. Remove from the heat and let them cool.
- In a food processor or blender, purée the cooked canned tomatoes with the uncooked yellow tomatoes until smooth. Stir in the coriander, salt, and pepper, then set aside.
Next, prepare the caponata…
- Heat a generous drizzle of oil in a pan over medium heat (the bottom of the pan should be thoroughly covered). Fry the eggplant, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned. Transfer eggplant to a large bowl and set aside.
- In the pan (you may need to add more oil if the eggplants have absorbed it all), add the onions and the celery, season with salt and pepper, then cook, stirring frequently, until beginning to brown. Add the tomato paste and the crushed tomatoes, and continue to cook for about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the olives, vinegar, raisins, capers, sugar, and chocolate, and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened (about 10 to 15 minutes).
- Transfer to the bowl with the eggplant. Add the pine nuts and the basil, then mix thoroughly.
Then prepare the fish and serve…
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place halibut fillets on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until the halibut is just opaque, about 15 minutes (this can vary significantly depending on the thickness and size of your fillets, so check partway through if you’re unsure).
- To serve, spoon the tomato coriander sauce into a shallow bowl. Place the halibut fillet on top, then finish with a few generous spoonfuls of the eggplant caponata.
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