Regal Springs Tilapia Blog

Here’s a simple tilapia dish that sounds fancy and packs a wallop of taste. Added bonus: little kids like to say ‘piccata’! If yours don’t care for anything in a hue of green, you can easily adapt the recipe, or pull the kids portions out before adding the final delicious touches!

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces of your favorite uncooked pasta (orzo is nice if you can get it, or angel hair spaghetti)
• 3/4 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 tilapia fillets (about 6 oz each)
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/4 cup white wine*
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (if you can - my “fresh” almost always comes in a bottle)
• 1 tablespoon drained capers (they’re usually next to the olives at the store)

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
2. Stir in tomatoes, 1/4 tsp salt, parsley, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Set aside and keep warm.
   - If you’re adapting for the kids, leave the parsley out here. We’ll add it later.
3. Combine remaining 1/4 tsp salt, remaining 1/8 tsp pepper and flour in a large shallow bowl. Dredge fish in flour mixture.
4. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
5. Add fish to pan and cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
6. Remove fish from pan and keep warm. (An empty microwave works well.)
7. Add wine, juice and capers to pan, cook 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Add remaining 2 tbsp butter to pan, stir until butter melts.
   - If you’re adapting for picky eaters, leave out the capers. Then add them, along with the parsley, as a final garnish.
8. Serve fish with sauce and pasta.

* Yes, you can leave out the wine, but don’t! Remember, the alcohol burns off in the cooking. In other words, no toddlers will end up tipsy after eating this meal! However, if you don’t want the wine, substitute with chicken broth.

This is one of those recipes I love - easy enough for every day, but pretty enough for guests. Enjoy!

Image Credit: adactio, Flickr

Tags: cooking fish, cooking for kids, eating fish, eating fish at home, fish dish, fish recipe, fish recipes, tilapia recipe

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 7th, 2009 at 8:33 am and is filed under Buying & Cooking, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.