Recipe: (Italy) Grilled Fillet of Fish

Winner of the James Beard/ KitchenAid Cookbook of the Year 2000 and Winner of the Beard Award for the Best Writing on Food 2000.

March 31, 2023

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Grilled Fillet of Fish
Region: Italy
Category: Seafood-Grilled
Season: Summer
Difficulty: Easy but special equipment needed

Fish grills very fast but the secret in this recipe is incredibly fresh fish fillet with its skin on which is necessary to protect the flesh while it cooks. The sea bass can be replaced with any firm, white-fleshed fish fillet with skin such as sablefish on the Pacific coast as well as trout, redfish, catfish, red snapper so long as it's fresh. Serve preceded by Spaghetti with Red Chile Flakes, Olive Oil, and Parsley.

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 2 to 4 servings
Preparation Time: 35 minutes

5 sprigs fresh sage leaves

2 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt plus more as needed

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound firm-fleshed white fish fillets, 1 inch thick

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Prepare a charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill on high for 20 minutes.

2. Tie the sage twigs together with kitchen twine to use as a brush. In a mortar, mash the garlic with the 1/2 teaspoon salt until a paste, then stir into the olive oil.

3. Brush both sides of the fish fillet with the garlic and oil mixture using the sage brush. Salt and pepper and place on the grill, skin side down. Grill until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Baste constantly with the sage brush dipped into the olive oil. Serve immediately.

Variation:

Note:

Posted: 12/31/2006

Referenced Recipes:

Spaghetti with Red Chile Flakes

Cucina Paradiso is a wonderfully insightful and refreshingly personal exploration of one of the worldï¿½s most exciting cuisines--full of rich, colorful, and highly seasoned dishes unlike any other Italian food you know. The book is also full of fascinating history. Food is the prism through which Clifford Wright views Sicily and Sicilian culture.
- Paula Wolfert, author of Paula Wolfert's World of Food, Mediterranean Cooking, The Cooking of South-West France, an

Clifford Wright is a versatile fellow. He won the James Beard Foundation’s top cookbook award a couple of years ago for his historical opus, “A Mediterranean Feast.” But he also wrote one of my favorite quick cookbooks, “Cucina Rapida.” In his newest book [Real Stew], Wright calls upon his scholarly credentials and his practical side to produce a collection of classic stews from around the world. The introductory notes for each of the 300 stews reflect Wright’s knowledge of history and world cuisines. But the recipes themselves — from Nantucket Scallop Stew to French Cassoulet to Kenyan Chicken and Coconut Stew — are straightforward and appealing.
- Margaret King, San Diego Union-Tribune

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