Mediterranean-Style Baked Red Snapper

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: baked fish, how to cook fish, seafood recipe

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 25

Total Time: 35

Servings:

Calories: 219kcal

Author: Kris Longwell

This dish is many things, including super health and a gorgeous presentation, but more than anything, it's exploding with amazing taste. Red snapper is not fishy tasting at all and bakes in a short amount of time. See NOTES for red snapper substitutes.

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Equipment

Baking dish, such as a 9"x13"

Ingredients

4 6 oz red snapper fillets
Kosher salt and black pepper
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil divided
¼ cup dry white wine
6 cloves garlic minced, divided
½ cup basil fresh, chopped, divided
1 cup olives green and/or black, pitted
¼ cup pine nuts toasted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place the fillets, skin side down, in a baking dish. Season the tops of each fillet with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together 2 tbsp of the oil with the white wine. Pour all over the tops of the fish in the dish.
Add half of the chopped garlic and basil over the tops of the fillets. Sprinkle the olives around the fish. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil and use a spatula to transfer the fillets to either a plate or your serving platter. Pour the sauce, with olives, into a small saucepan. Add the remaining garlic and basil and all of the toasted pine nuts and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes, until aromatic.
Pour the sauce over the fillets and serve at once.

Video

Notes

In the United States, we find good-quality red snapper at Whole Foods. Other excellent substitutes for cod are cod, halibut, tilapia, sea bass, and swordfish.

The size of the fillet may require the cooking time to be increased or decreased. For ½-inch to 1-inch fillets, 20 minutes will cook them perfectly. A thicker fillet, such as swordfish, for example, might require more time. A thinner fillet, such as tilapia, will require less time, around 10 to 15 minutes. If you remove the foil, and the fillets are still pale in color, they need to go back into the oven. Re-cover with foil and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.

We love using a combination of Italian olives (Castelvetrano) and Greek olives (Kalamata), but go with whatever your favorite olives are. We do recommend using pitted olives.

Cooked wild rice is a great side for this dish. The fillets are also wonderful over a bed of sautéd kale or spinach with the sauce poured all over the top.

The cooked fish will keep in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. It will freeze just fine, but the texture will not be as flaky once thaw and reheated.

Nutrition