I doubt if this is really a Tuscan-style dish. But it was kinda-sorta inspired by it. At any rate it’s light and surprisingly good considering I made it up. Maybe if you had some beans it would be Tuscan. I don’t even know. “Italian fish and pasta thing,” there. Happy?
Easy to prepare. Serves 2-3.
Ingredients:
- 2 tilapia fillets, cubed
- 1/2 cup chopped prosciutto
- 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
- 3-4 leaves fresh basil, coarsely chopped
- 2 tbsp diced garlic
- 2 tbsp capers
- 1/2 package capellini (a.k.a. angel hair)
- 1 cup asparagus tips (fresh)
- 1/2 cup each parmesan and romano cheeses, grated
- olive oil
- black pepper
- salt (optional)
Timing is useful here, so I put a large crock pot on the stove at a low heat, to be ready for the fish when the time comes, and another large sauce pan with water for the pasta.
- In a medium frying pan, drizzle a small amount of oil and gently fry your prosciutto and tomatoes for about 7-10 minutes. I consider this more a reduction of the tomatoes than anything. I did not allow the prosciutto to crisp. If the tomatoes start to stick, drizzle a little more oil, but only just enough. Halfway through, get your water boiling and throw in your pasta.
- Near the end of cooking your tomatoes, add the garlic and begin cooking your asparagus tips in light oil on the other side of the pan. Keep the tomatoes/prosciutto separate, as the asparagus is for garnish later. Remember, gentle frying, don’t burn them. You’re just loosening them up.
- Your crock pot should be warm, so turn up the heat to medium and throw in your cubed fish. It cooks fast, so as it’s nearing completion add your tomato mixture, basil, black pepper, and capers. Fold this all together gently with a little bit of oil. For a kick add some red pepper flakes to taste.
- Your pasta should be al dente now (5 mins. max), so drain it and add it to your fish mixture. Add just enough oil to facilitate folding all of your ingredients together.
Serve in a large pasta bowl with the cheese sprinkled generously on top, and the asparagus placed tip facing up around the pasta.
As I said, this is a rather dry dish, but I don’t like the heavily oiled fare. It’s just too much and the olive oil kills the other flavors. However, if you’re in need of a sauce, I suggest you cook your pasta in less water and save about half a cup of it after the pasta cooks. After following all of the above steps, add an egg and 1/3 cup milk to your leftover pasta water, whisking quickly to cook the egg without scrambling. This is a little difficult, but when done right yields a great sauce. The true Roman way would be just water and egg, but I like it a little creamier.
Buon appetito.
