An all-star recipe for fish stew with a Sicilian twist! The comfort of Italian flavors in one delicious stew cooked in a white wine-tomato broth with garlic, capers, raisins more!
In Italy, as in many parts of the Mediterranean basin, fish is often combined with tomatoes and other local ingredients to make delicious and quick one-pot-wonders like today's Sicilian-style fish stew.
I'll just come right out and say this now. This fish stew is best eaten with family and close friends because, if you eat it the right way--with crusty Italian bread to sop up the lovely sauce--it can get pretty messy. Finger-liking-good kinda messy!
This fish stew recipe is quite simple, but the balance of flavors is truly incredible. From lovely and familiar aromatics like onions and garlic--providing the glorious start to this recipe--to a hint of sweetness from golden raisins balanced with tart capers. All the while, a white wine and tomato-based broth marries everything together.
Sea bass fillet was my choice for this fish stew recipe, but you can use any firm white-fleshed fillets here.
I adapted this recipe from America's Test Kitchen's new book, The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook. Here's a great tip I picked up: To prevent the fish from overcooking and drying out, it's best to add the fish towards the end, when the stew is nearly done. Let it simmer until it's partially cooked, then turn the stove off and cover the pot to let the fish finish cooking by residual heat.
Add a salad!
If you like, add a simple green salad to start the meal or try one of these:
Kindey Bean and Cilantro Salad; Mediterranean Chickpea Salad; Greek Salad or Fattoush.
More recipes to try
Mediterranean-Style Steamed Clams
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Sicilian-Style Fish Stew Recipe
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: serves 4-6 1x
Description
An all-star recipe for fish stew with a Sicilian twist! The comfort of Italian flavors in one delicious stew cooked in a white wine-tomato broth with garlic, capers, raisins more!
Ingredients
- Private Reserve extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- Salt and pepper
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- 1 28-oz can whole peeled plum tomatoes, juice separated and reserved
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- ¼ cup golden raisins
- 2 tbsp capers, rinsed
- 2 lb skinless sea bass fillet, about 1 ½-inch thick, cut into large cubes
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves, stems removed
- 3 tbsp toasted pine nuts, optional
- Crusty Italian bread for serving
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in 5-quart Dutch oven (like this one) over medium heat. Add onions, celery, and a little salt and pepper (about ½ teaspoon each). Cook, stirring regularly, until softened (about 4 minutes). Add thyme, red pepper flakes and garlic and cook briefly until fragrant (about 30 more seconds).
- Now, stir in the white wine and reserved tomato juice from can. Bring to a simmer, and cook until the liquid is reduced by about ½. Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, raisins, and capers. Cook for 15-20 minutes over medium heat until flavors combine.
- Pat the fish dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Insert the fish pieces into the cooking liquid, and give everything a gentle stir so that the fish pieces are nicely covered in the cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and cover. Let sit off heat for another 4-5 minutes so that the fish will finish cooking. Fish should be flaky when gently pulled apart with a paring knife. Finally, stir in the chopped parsley.
- Ladle the hot fish stew into serving bowls, top each with a few toasted pine nuts, if you like. Serve with your favorite crusty bread! Enjoy!
Notes
- Recipe adapted from The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook
- Recommended for this Recipe: Our Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil (from organically grown and processed Koroneiki olives!)
- Visit our store to browse our spices, olive oils and bundles!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Category: Entree/Soup
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Mediterranean / Sicilian
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More Recipes to Try:
Mediterranean Fish Fillet, Shakshuka Style
Mediterranean Wholre Roasted Baked Red Snapper
Greek Shrimp Recipe with Tomato and Feta
Thank you so much for a fabulous recipe, I am just about to cook again, in bulk, and freeze down for convenience.
Sounds like a great plan! Thanks, Marianne!
Loved it! We substituted half the fish with shrimp. We didn’t have any parsely or pine nuts but overall excellent flavor. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing, Joan!
Good morning,
this does sound very good. I love seafood. Could I use a seafood mix? Like shrimp, cod, kalamri and scallops?
Love your recipes. Thank you for working so hard at sharing them with us!!
Stay healthy and God bless,
Eva
Hi Eva, thank you! Yes, i think you can do that here but remember that shrimp and other seafood will cook at different rates. Large chunks of fish will take a little bit longer.
This sounds delicious and I can’t wait to make it. Just one question - in the Nutrition Info why is the fat and carb count so high? The dish just has tomatoes onion and celery so 47 carb grams seems very high, as does the fat count for a fish dish.
Hi there! Thanks so much for checking on this, we were able to find the calculation error and have updated it. This should be closer.
Hi,
What would be a substitute for the white wine?
(Something non alcoholic)
You can try a 1/2 cup of white grape juice (a kind that is sugar free, if possible) plus a little vinegar or lemon juice.
Can I use cod ?
Sure, Connie. That should work
Actually this was really nice. I don't normally like capers or raisins (sultanas) but mixed in with the recipe I didn't notice. The kids even ate it! It was flavourful but not spicy even though I added a tad more chilli flakes. I also added in more vegetable stock than in the recipe later on so it stayed wet for dipping and soaking bread into it. I mixed the parsley in towards the end of the simmering so some the of flavour went through, didn't just stir it in at the end. I used pink ling fillets and the fishiness was cooked away with the broth so not too fishy. I served with toasted bread roll slices to dip into the sauce. Pine nuts actually added a nice touch at the end.
Sounds wonderful, Anne-Marie! Thanks for sharing!!
Anne-Marie, A suggestion on the fish: always, always brine the fish before cooking. You will not have to worry about the "fishiness."
What would be a better substitution for the canned plum Tomatoes - fresh tomatoes or crushed fire roasted tomatoes?
I would say fresh tomatoes for this one, Galina!
I added 2 tins of crushed/diced tomatoes after draining off the juice and it was still tasty. In other recipes I've done fresh tomatoes skinned etc, but teh tinned tomatoes here in Australia are just as nearly good as the fresh ones.
Absolutely great. I couldn’t have thought the raisins sit so well with fish.
A pleasant surprise, isn't it :). Thanks for sharing! So glad you liked it!
Suzy,
Your fish stew recipe is absolutely delicious! I’ve been cooking a lot since everything is pretty much shut down due to COVID-19. I’m so happy that I stumbled across your blog. I can’t wait to try your other dishes. You are a fabulous cook. Thanks for sharing!
You're very sweet, Dawn! Thank you! Be well!!
Wow, really liked this stew. Very pleased with the results. As you mentioned any fish can be used, so I used a few shrimp and scallops, a bit of cod and mahi mahi. Otherwise I made it as written. A new favorite ! Thanx.
PS. Loved the raisins !
Sounds delish! Thanks for sharing, Nancy!
I love this recipe! It’s a keeper. I didn’t have the ingredients exactly but I followed with like substitutes. It is so flexible to achieve great flavor with what you have. I didn’t have a can of plum tomatoes so I had to substitute crushed plus 1Tbsp paste mixed 1/2 c water. I added some bay scallops and mussels too with the fish. This was a wonderful stew for Good Friday. Thank you. I’ve already shared the link with friends.
Thanks for sharing your substitutions, Barbara! Glad you enjoyed it!
Oh my goodness, this is the best recipe! So easy, ingredients that I have on hand. My husband, the fussiest eater ever, loved this. Thank you, I love your blog!
Awesome! Thanks, Adela!
Can you use shrimp for this recipe?
Sure! Just watch it carefully to make sure the shrimp is not overdone. I recommend searing the shrimp in a skillet for about 2-3 minutes, and then adding it to the stew during the last 2-3 minutes of cooking. Hope that helps!
Both my husband and I were surprised by how much we enjoyed this broth. It's rare that we don't want to add something; parmesan, potatoes, more garlic, or something, but this was a very good balance. After the fish was gone we made another meal of just the broth, because it's that delicious! The raisins and capers are just the contrasts it needs. We will definitely be making this many more times. Thanks!!
Glad you guys liked it, Janet! Thanks so much!
Hi! I don’t drink Alcohol, can I leave that out or substitute it with something else?
You can omit the alcohol or add more citrus.