Recipe: Italian Baked Fish

One thing I haven’t talked about a lot here is my love of cooking.  There are just so many stinking good food blogs out there, but I wanted to incorporate some of my favorite recipes. This way Bronwyn has them in one place when she’s old enough to cook.

The picture from my Wordless Wednesday post was from our shopping adventure before cooking dinner last night.  Let’s just say I had to go back and grab another bell pepper.  We also picked up a basil plant. Let’s hope I keep this one alive. I’m really good at killing plants.   It’s got a nice little spot under a window.

Before I started cooking I got a nice anniversary surprise from the husband.  He bought me flowers. Thanks Steven!

And then I got to cooking.  I started out sautéing onions and bell peppers, along with some of that fresh basil in a little butter and olive oil.

I added drained Italian Style diced tomatoes to the pan and stirred it for a bit til it was a tad bit saucy.

Took some defrosted Haddock and put it in a greased baking dish.

And poured the oh so delicious smelling sauce over the top evenly.

I then sprinkled it with grated (always grate yourself, don’t buy the pre-grated stuff, it’s never the same!!!!) fresh mozzarella.  Popped it in the oven and out came this!

Since it was a special occasion the good wine came out.

And of course it needed some veggies, so a heaping pile of asparagus.

It was super tender, moist (hate that word), delicious and yummy.  Bronwyn loved it.  The recipe was inspired by one at Epicurious, which is one my go to spots for good food, but I made quite a few changes.

Italian Baked Fish
Serves 2-4 depending on appetite

Ingredients
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 of a medium onion
Small handful of fresh basil
1 small green bell pepper
1 14.5oz can Italian Style diced tomatoes (drained)
4 fillets of Haddock Fish (or other white fish, like cod)
1 medium ball of fresh mozzarella shredded (as much or little as you want)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350.

Heat a pan on medium and put butter and oil in pan. Let the butter melt.

Dice up onion and bell pepper and sauté. Chiffonade some basil (fancy term just means roll up several stacked leaves of basil and cut them in strips) and add to the pan. Let that all cook til the onion and bell pepper are nice and soft.

Add the drained canned tomatoes and stir in until the mixture is really incorporated, about 5-7 minutes.

Put the fish in a greased baking dish, I just spray with cooking spray like Pam. Pour the sauce on top of the fish and then sprinkle the grated mozzarella on top. Don’t skimp on the cheese.

Pop the dish in the oven for 25 minutes. Make sure the fish starts to look golden (the parts you might be able to see) and the sauce is a bit bubbly and the cheese is super melty. That means it is done.

Serve and enjoy! We found two fish fillets were a great serving size for an adult. We let Bronwyn have bites off of each of our plates.