I cook this often and especially when my sister Kyla comes to visit - she requests this lovely dish as her first meal every time ! I adore capers and the way these flavours intermingle is special.
"The fish dish is Nicola Hawdon's via Donna Hay. She's cooked it for me many times and it's delicious. You do need a very hot oven to get the right taste to the tomatoes - and I've never been able to make it as good as she does with my old oven. But maybe that's in the nature of someone making you a yummy meal! :o)"– Sally Girgis.
Pictured: First Roasting Stage of Fish with Tomatoes and Capers
350g cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp lemon zest
8 cloves garlic, bruised
1 ½ tbsp salted capers, rinsed
1/3 cup olive oil
4 x 120g firm white fish
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Put tomatoes, lemon zest, garlic and capers in an oven proof dish.
Add ½ the olive oil and mix well.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Shuffle the yumminess; add fish and drizzle with remaining oil.
Cook another 15-20 minutes depending on size of fish but until golden and cooked through.
Drizzle with lemon juice, season with salt and pepper.
Serve with a green salad and either bread or whole, unpeeled, boiled organic spuds.
Serves 4
TasteTip - The pickled flower buds of the caper bush grow wild all over the Mediterranean. Fresh capers are picked and immediately preserved in brine or wine vinegar, or are packed in salt (rinse before eating to remove the excess salt). The delicious tart flavour of the buds only develops during the pickling process, which produces capric acid in the caper. The larger, more developed caper fruit known as caperberries, resemble tiny, dark-green watermelons with a stalk left on. They are a little sweeter and can also be enjoyed as a tapas or in salads. The flavour of capers adds piquancy to many sauces and condiments, such as tartare sauce, and are known as a good match for fish. They are also used in vegetable dishes and in tapenade.