The past week has been fun. My niece Elena and my nephew Jacopo stayed here in Mantua with us for a full week and we did many activities during the day and in the evening, along with uncle Andrea, we made some themed dinners. One of the nicest was the Chinese dinner. We set the living room low table, and we had dinner with chopsticks while sitting on pillows. A real hoot.
On Monday the children and I went back to their home and I took the opportunity to have a chat with sister no. 2, Lella. For dinner she made the delicious fish dish that today I propose to you. Lella told me she had this dish for the first time in a restaurant on Isola d’Elba, and she liked it so much she recreated it at home. Truly delicious, the strong flavor of the fish is mellowed by the courgettes and exalted by the chopped garlic and parsley, a really good mix of flavours. Very easy to make, this is a delicious summer dish you can prepare for a nice light dinner. Thanks Lella for this great recipe!
Here's how it's done.
Serves 2-3 people as a main or 4 if served after a pasta or rice dish.
• 300 g fish fillets
•1 handfull of parsley leaves
•1 garlic clove
•400-500 g courgettes, I added 3 courgette flowers I had at hand
•1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
•1/2 cup of dry white wine
•salt
•chili powder

Step 1:

Steam or boil the courgettes until they are cooked but not too soft.

Step 2:

Finely chop garlic and parsley and fry them in the oil over low heat.

Step 3:

Pass the courgettes through a food mill using the disc with small holes in order to obtain a thin sauce with small pieces of courgette inside. You could use a blender if you don’t own a food mill, but in this case you’ll obtain a very thick sauce and you should water it down with a little vegetable stock or water to be able to cook the fish in it.

Step 4:

Add the courgette sauce to the chopped garlic and parsley and cook for 5 minutes.

Step 5:

Cut the fish fillets in order to get thin slices.

Step 6:

Bring the courgette sauce to a simmer, add the fish fillets, salt and cook for a few minutes then pour in the wine. Gently turn the fish fillets in order to cook them through. It will only be a matter of minutes. Taste, season with salt, add the chilli powder and serve.