Fusilli with Fish Ragu
Fancy Comfort Food
Fusilli with Fish Ragu | Dara O’Brien
By Dara O’Brien
Creative Director, Lake Isle Press
Cooking in a strange kitchen can present some challenges. Cooking in a strange kitchen when the host isn’t there can be more like running a gauntlet.
My friends had lent me their house in the Catskills last weekend while they were away. I’ve been there and cooked there before — for most of those times, they were there with me — but not enough to really get the hang of their kitchen.
Since I would be there for a long weekend and had the luxury of time, I decided to cook something special but not super complicated. I looked through our Lake Isle Press cookbooks for ideas and chose a recipe for Fusilli with Fish Ragu from “Seafood Alla Siciliana: Recipes & Stories from a Living Tradition” by Toni Lyedecker.
My companion for the weekend had doubts about pairing fish with tomato, but having tried that combination before (including grouper simmered in tomato and wine), I thought it would work. I figured the result would be light, fancy comfort food, which seemed like a fitting change-of-season meal.
The weather cooperated by supplying a mid-spring snowstorm that catapulted us into a winter wonderland. A perfect day for cooking … and eating. I came prepared with all the ingredients I’d need for this recipe (except salt) including a fresh halibut filet. I substituted rotini for fusilli pasta.
As the snow fell, I got ready to cook. Since this is a two-pot recipe (just pasta and sauce) I had no problem finding the right cookware. However, as I previewed the recipe step by step, I realized I’d forgotten to pack my food mill. Since my friends aren’t particularly dedicated cooks, it was a pretty good bet they didn’t have one. Or an immersion blender. Or a food processor. So much for step three.
But while this wonderful two-story house didn’t have a full cook’s kitchen, it did have an extra one, a remnant of the original owner’s need for a kitchen on each floor. This can come in handy for parties or guests, but also for storing appliances you don’t often use, such as a blender, in my friends’ case. I dug around the upstairs kitchen and found one in perfect working order tucked away in a bottom cabinet. I was now ready to begin.
I can vouch for the flavor of this recipe (buttery chunks of halibut in a light tomato sauce) and for its simplicity. But I can’t tell you how long it took, because after sorting through an array of pots, pans, and cutting boards, auditioning various knives to find the sharpest, and scouring two kitchens for a food mill or something that could stand in for it, I lost track of time. There was also some fussing to get the temperature right on an electric stove (I'm used to cooking with gas) and awkward stops and starts as I navigated a different space. Oh, and straining the puréed sauce through an impossibly small strainer was an adventure in itself.
In the end, cooking in unfamiliar surroundings may indeed be a challenge, but I like challenges. Jumping through a few hoops to make a delicious meal makes it taste that much better. So, if you want a taste of fancy comfort food, I recommend you try this recipe in your kitchen … or someone else’s.
Fusilli with Fish Ragu Recipe
Click here for printable recipe.
Makes 4-6 servings | Prep: 15 minutes | Cook: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1½ pounds snapper, halibut, tilapia, or other white fish fillets (see Notes)
2 cups diced or chopped canned tomatoes, with some of the juice or puree (see Notes)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Sea salt or kosher salt
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound fusilli or other short pasta shape
PREPARATION
Coat the bottom of a large, broad-bottomed saucepan with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Layer the onions, fish, and tomatoes on top. Add the garlic and 1 teaspoon salt. Drizzle another 2 tablespoons olive oil over the mixture, and add water to at least the half-way mark (3 to 4 cups).
Bring the water to a boil; reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the fish is tender, about 15 minutes. Using a spatula or skimmer, transfer the fish to a plate; once cooled, break it into small pieces, discarding any skin and small bones.
Stir the tomato paste into the tomato mixture in the pan, raise the heat a bit, and simmer briskly until the onions are very tender. Turn the contents of the saucepan into a food mill fitted with the medium disk and set over a bowl; process the mixture, scraping any puree clinging to the bottom of the disk into the bowl. (Alternatively, puree the mixture in a food processor and strain in a medium strainer.) Return the strained sauce to the cleaned saucepan and simmer until slightly thickened. Stir in the fish; taste and add more salt if needed; keep warm.
1.Place a pot of cold water over high heat and bring to a boil; add salt. Add the fusilli and cook until very al dente.
Drain the pasta and add it to the saucepan with the fish sauce, stirring and cooking for a few minutes. The mixture will be quite soupy at the outset, but the pasta will absorb some of the sauce as it finishes cooking. Serve in shallow soup bowls.
Notes
Whole cleaned fish cut into chunks can also be used, but must be picked over after cooking to remove every bit of bone and skin before the filleted pieces are returned to the sauce.
Parmalat’s Pomì chopped tomatoes is a brand that works well in this recipe.
Recipe from “Seafood Alla Siciliana: Recipes & Stories from a Living Tradition” by Toni Lydecker, Lake Isle Press, 2011
Fusilli with Fish Ragu Recipe
from Seafood alla Siciliana: Recipes & Stories From a Living Tradition
by Toni Lydecker, Lake Isle Press, 2009
“A uniquely satisfying cookbook [full of] alluring, easy-to-follow recipes.” —Food & Wine
Seafood alla Siciliana: Recipes & Stories From A Living Tradition” is the first cookbook to explore in depth the rich culinary dimensions of Sicilian seafood, features recipes that burst with authentic flavor and bring to life the island’s eclectic cooking styles—a brilliant mix of Greek, Arab, French, and Spanish influences. Nothing could be simpler or more delicious than a Sicilian-style baked or grilled fish, served with a simple salmoriglio sauce of olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, and oregano, and this cookbook will show how to put it on the table.
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