Cary Neff's Chilean Sea Bass in Tomato-Fennel Broth
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Extra-virgin olive-oil spray
- 1½cups minced fresh fennel, plus 2 tablespoons chopped fennel fronds for garnish
- ½cup minced onion
- 2cloves garlic, minced
- ½cup Pernod
- ¼cup dry white wine
- 3cups fresh plum tomatoes, chopped
- 2cups tomato juice
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼teaspoon saffron threads
- 44- to 6-ounce Chilean sea bass fillets (or any firm white fish)
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
274 calories; 4 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 27 grams protein; 773 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Warm a pan large enough for the fish over medium heat. Spray with oil, add the minced fennel, onion and garlic and saute, stirring frequently, until barely softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Step 2
Add the Pernod. Return pan to high heat, which should ignite the Pernod. When the flame has died, or when the smell of alcohol is gone, add the wine. Add the tomatoes and tomato juice and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper. Puree in a food processor or blender, strain through a fine-mesh strainer and return to pan.
- Step 3
Add the saffron, turn heat to medium low and slide in the fish. Spoon some sauce over each fillet. Cover and simmer until cooked, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet. Serve garnished with the sauce and topped with the fennel fronds.
Private Notes
Comments
This is a great sauce. I used Absinthe and added two TBS of butter while saucing the tomatoes. Like others, we did not use a food processor and we made a full recipe despite having less sea bass to use the extra sauce to cook chicken thighs.
Loved this dish!! Save the sauce for future adventures.
Agree! Cut in half for two, improvise if you are missing ingredients--loose the tomato juice, use ground fennel seeds & canned toms in the sauce--and serve with rice. We did not spluege and strain the sauce either, surely more elegant that way but we don't mind a bit of texture on the plate. Super good, a keeper, easy and really sort of stunning--where did that sauce come from? Gotta say, the flames look good on the stove top too.