King Fish Roasted In Butter Served With A Delicious Provençale Sauce

Joanne This wonderfully flavored fillet is roasted to perfection and then served with a delicious Provençal style sauce/or salsa to serve with it. This fillet is slathered in an herbed butter before going in the oven and then it roasts in that same delicious butter. I love to serve it basted in that butter sauce and then topped with the very flavourful Provençal sauce. This recipe works well with just about any fish fillet out there including salmon or any white fish you might prefer or have on hand.

Ingredients

For the Fish

• 1-½ lbs king fish fillet

• 4 tbsp of butter at room temperature

• 1 teaspoon of paprika (or more according to taste)

• 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley and extra for garnish

• 1 teaspoon of lemon or lime juice

• 1 teaspoon  lemon or lime zest

• Salt and pepper to your preference

For the Provençal sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 3 cloves garlic minced

• ¼ teaspoon of chili flakes

• ½ teaspoon of fresh thyme

• Zest of one lemon or lime

• 4-6 small Roma tomatoes seeded and chopped

• 1 teaspoon of anchovy paste

• 2 tablespoons capers rinsed and drained

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• ¼ cup of pitted and chopped Kalamata olives or a blend of whatever olives you may have on hand

• 1 pinch of sugar – to take the edge off the acidity of the tomatoes

• 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

For the Fish

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and butter or grease a baking sheet.

2. Combine the butter, paprika, parsley, lemon zest and juice as well as salt and pepper and stir until well blended

3. Spread the butter mixture over the the entire fillet both sides. And sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper (optional)

4. Transfer to baking sheet and roast fish until it’s done and opaque in the centre. (This took approx 25-30 minutes with this size fish- cooking time will vary depending on thickness)

5. Transfer fish to platter, tent with foil for a few minutes while you make the Provençale sauce.

For the Provençal sauce

1. Heat the butter and oil in a medium sized pan on medium heat and add the garlic, lemon zest, chili flakes and thyme and sauté for a couple minutes until very fragrant.

2. Add the tomatoes, anchovy paste, capers, olives, vinegar and sugar and partially cover and cook for a few minutes until the tomatoes soften. Stir in the olives and parsley, taste for seasoning and then it’s ready to serve over the fish garnished with more parsley.

Recipe Notes

1. Storage - Leftover fish can be store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. I like to store the fish in a separate container to the leftover sauce - because sometimes I like to add any leftover sauce to other dishes.

2. You can use any white fish fillet in this recipe or even salmon, if you cant get your hands on king fish where you are.

3. Cooking time will always vary depending on the thickness of your fillet. So keep an eye on it after the 18-20 minute mark. You will know when its done when the fish is no longer translucent but is opaque and when it flakes easily at its thickest point when tested with a fork.

4. Feel free to add different herbs or seasoning to the herbed butter according to your taste and even adjust the amounts to taste as well.

Comments

• August 2024 First encounter cooked by Robert Forster, he added calamari to the Provençal sauce which was a nice touch!