Simple and delicious! This Mediterranean Tilapia recipe can be thrown together in an hour or less and not only tastes amazing, but it looks pretty fancy too!
Flaky fish in an aromatic broth of lemon, wine, tomatoes, garlic and capers. I absolutely LOVE capers and I try to use them in recipes every chance I get. Capers are an edible flower bud from the plant Capparis spinosa, they are harvested before they flower and usually dried and then pickled. They add a salty and unique flavor to many dishes. Not only do I use them in my Mediterranean recipes, but I love putting them on top of bagels and cream cheese.
What you'll nee for Mediterranean Tilapia
I don't use the carrots or green beans in this recipe, but I did serve the tilapia with garlic green beans and roasted carrots...Yum!
A few other items I used not seen in this picture are Pino Grigio and Olive Oil and of COURSE...Salt & Pepper.
Step One:
Place your thawed tilapia filets on a plate or shallow dish. Mix together 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Using a brush or even a spoon will work, coat both sides of each filet with mixture. Return dish to the refrigerator until ready to cook.
Step Two:
Dice your onion and add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to a saute pan. Heat oil on medium, then reduce to low and add in diced onion. Saute onions on low for about 5 minutes or until translucent.
Step Three:
Peel the remaining garlic cloves and using the back of a knife, smash the cloves just enough to break the outer layer. Add to pan with sauteed garlic and continue to cook on low.
See those whole cloves of garlic??? They are going to slowly saute and become a sweet burst of garlicky flavor, trust me...you will want to eat them!
Step Four:
Add the remaining salt and pepper and the can of roasted tomatoes to your saute pan and continue to cook on low. Zest both lemons and add the zest to the saute pan. Slice ½ lemon into thin slices and put to the side for garnish. Squeeze the remaining 1 ½ lemons (no seeds please) and add the juice to the saute pan.
Step Five:
Add the capers and white wine (or chicken broth) to saute pan and allow to cook on low for about 15 minutes. This will allow the flavor of the capers to combine with other ingredients and take the alcohol from the wine out of the dish. Add your tilapia filets to the pan and cover with tomato mixture. Place a lid on your pan and continue to cook tilapia about 10 minutes. Carefully flip each filet and cook an additional 5 minutes or until the fish is no longer translucent.
Step Six:
Serve and make sure to pile the tomato mixture on each filet! You can see I served my Mediterranean Tilapia with roasted carrots and garlic butter green beans.
Mediterranean Tilapia
Ingredients
- 16 ounces of Tilapia Filets
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil divided
- 1 medium Vidalia onion
- 1 bulb of garlic approx. 15 cloves
- 1 tsp salt divided
- 1 tsp pepper divided
- 1 can 14.5 ounces Hunts Fire Roasted Tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons Capers with juice
- ½ cup of white wine Pino Grigio (may substitute chicken stock)
- 2 lemons
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place your Tilapia filets on a plate or shallow dish. In a small bowl, mix 1 Tablespoon of Olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon of pepper and 4 garlic cloves minced. Using a brush or spoon cover both sides of each filet with mixture and place fish in fridge until ready to use.
- Heat a large saute pan on medium with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, reduce to low
- Dice onion and add to saute pan, cook onion for about 5 minutes on low
- Peel the rest of the garlic cloves and using the back of a knife, smash the cloves just enough to break the outer the layer, add to onions and continue to cook on low.
- Add in ½ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper, can of tomatoes and stir.
- Zest both lemons and add zest to pan. Slice ½ lemon into thin slices and reserve for garnish
- Squeeze juice from lemons (strain the seeds) and add to saute pan.
- Add in the capers and white wine, simmer on low about 10-15 minutes
- Place seasoned Tilapia filets in saute pan with the tomato mixture and cover with a lid, cook on medium for 10 minutes.
- Carefully flip each filet and cook, covered for an additional 5 minutes or until tilapia is no longer translucent. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish tilapia filets with lemon slice and serve immediately.
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