Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Mediterranean Snapper Casserole

Last night Bernard made baked red snapper fillets - lots of them. For once we had lots of leftovers. What to do....Bernard suggested that I make a fish-macaroni casserole for dinner the next night (my night to cook in our new schedule). With some concern I took on the challenge. I am not a great fish cook and fish casseroles are even more foreign territory. Not to mention that generally when I use macaroni I am putting a cheesy sauce on it - not something I am doing to fish and not something in line with my attempts to reduce my calories.

After some thinking I remembered a fish and tomato stew I had and liked. This got me looking at Mediterranean flavours. But white pasta didn't sit well with my diet plan, but barley did and I was wanting to use it more. There is the evolution of tonight's dinner, which I was especially pleased with and have decided to share the recipe in case you want to try something new.


Recipe
2.5 fillets of red snapper
1 large onion
1 red pepper
1/4 cup chopped Moroccan olives
1/2 cup chopped flat leafed parsley
2 tbsp capers
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp each oregano, basil, salt, pepper, chili pepper flakes
1 cup chicken stock
4 cups tomato sauce
1 cup pearl barley
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tbsp butter

chop onion and put in a frying pan with salt, chili pepper flakes, basil, and oregano on medium-high heat
put barley in a large skillet or heavy pot, on medium-high heat
chop pepper, parsley, olives and garlic and add to onions once they are soft
once barley is slightly toasted add 1 cup of stock and reduce to a simmer
melt butter and mix with panko is a separate bowl
once veggies are softened add to barley and mix in the tomato sauce
put half of the tomato sauce in a casserole and lay the snapper on top of sauce
cover with rest of sauce
sprinkle with panko crumbs
bake at 350 for about 30 minutes - until fish and barley are cooked



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