Sicilian Sablefish with Fresh Tomatoes, White Wine & Basil
A one-pan Sicilian braise: fat-rich sablefish cooked skin-side up in a jammy Campari-tomato and white-wine sauce with garlic, shallots, and red jalapeño, finished over orzo and showered with fresh basil. No butter — the fish carries the sauce.
This started as a Sicilian-style weeknight dinner for the family — white fish with fresh tomatoes, white wine, garlic, and basil, no butter and nothing sweet-salty. It was also a practical one: a big volunteer basil crop needed using up.
Sablefish (black cod) turned out to be the right fish. Its high fat content makes it ideal for braising without butter — the natural richness carries the sauce. The dish came together as a one-pan braise finished over orzo, with crusty ciabatta rolls alongside.
I tried for crispy skin first, in a carbon-steel pan — but sablefish is too fat for the skin to hold a crisp in a braise; it softens the instant it meets moisture. Braising skin-side up from the start was the more honest approach.