pretty by the bay

What you see above is a thing of beauty. Fresh tomatoes, teeny and perfect. Don’t you just love their wee little stems? I do. My husband does not. He has a self-professed love/hate relationship with tomatoes…loves tomato products (i.e. salsa, ketchup, marinara sauce), hates any tomato that’s anywhere close to raw. I try to meet him in the middle with dishes like this.

Sautéing these little babies keeps them tomatoey (which I love) but cooks them just enough that dear husband will find them palatable. Plus, serving them in this manner helps with one of my personal love/hates: bland white fish. I love that this Dover sole was wild caught and on sale at my market. I hate that, like most white fish, it tastes like a paper towel unless you doctor it up a bit.

Dover Sole with Sautéed Tomatoes

serves 2

3/4 pound Dover sole fillets, or similar thin, mild white fish

3 tsp olive oil, divided

1/2 tbsp butter

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, the smaller the better

1 – 2 cloves garlic, minced

handful fresh parsley, chopped

lemon wedges, optional

Preheat oven to 450*. Spray a baking pan with nonstick spray. Pat fish on both sides with a paper towel. Brush fillets on both sides with 2 tsp olive oil, then sprinkle each side with salt and pepper. Bake fish for about 5 minutes or until barely cooked through. (*Note: you can also broil the fish for 2 – 3 minutes, but my broiler yields spotty results so I choose to bake it.)

While the fish is cooking, melt the butter and remaining 1 tsp olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium to medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until they begin to burst and release their juices, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant but not too brown, about 1 minute more. Stir in chopped parsley.

Remove the fish from the oven and carefully transfer to plates. Top each serving of fish with a squeeze of lemon, if desired, and a generous portion of tomatoes.