I just came back from a wonderful week in Sicily, filled with emotions, as I got to spend time with some relatives and friends I hadn’t seen in 7 years and I got to show my kids places filled with childhood memories that they had never seen before!  And to celebrate this moment, today I just had to share a Sicilian recipe.  In Sicily, Mahi Mahi is called capone and it was originally the main ingredient of one of Sicily’s most famous dishes: caponata.  Not everybody knows this, but what we now know as caponata used to be made with fish and eaten by the richest Sicilian families.  To make it more affordable, the fish was substituted with the eggplant, which were cheaper and available to the masses.  So, the name caponata derives from the name of the fish: capone.  Today I will share with you my version of the original recipe.  It is a delicious way to serve fish and it’s always been one of my favourite, since I was a child.  If you have kids who are fussy about eating fish, you should try this recipe… I often find that olives and capers can turn any dish into a success!  Buon appetito!

Print

Mahi Mahi with Caponata Sauce

Mahi Mahi with Caponata Sauce - a traditional Sicilian recipe!

Course Main

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 3 to 4

Author Manuela Zangara

Ingredients

Mahi Mahi

• 500 gms – 1.1 lbs. Mahi Mahi cleaned
• 1 slice of onion
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 2-3 bay leaves
• ½ tsp peppercorn
• Salt
• Water

Caponata Sauce

• ½ onion chopped
• 2 ½ tbsp celery chopped
• 10 green olives pitted
• 1 ½ tbsp capers rinsed
• 300 ml – 10 oz. tomato concentrate
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• ½ tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Mahi Mahi

1. Put the bay leaf, pepper corns, slice of onion and salt in a pot.
2. Now fill the pot with water and add the Mahi Mahi.
3. Put the pot on a medium fire and cook uncovered till the water starts boiling, then lower the flame and keep simmering until the fish has cooked through.
   
4. Drain it and keep it to cool down.  Then clean it and keep aside.

Caponata Sauce

1. Blanch the chopped celery in salty boiling water.
   
2. Chop the onion, put it in a frying pan and cover it with 1/2 glass of water and cook it until the water dries up.
3. Then add 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and sauté the onions in it for a minute or two. Add the tomato concentrate, capers, olives and blanched celery with a little of its reserved cooking water and cook the sauce for 5 minutes.
   
4. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and add it to the sauce.
   
5. Cook it for a few minutes on a medium-high flame, then put the fire off and let it cool down.
6. Then cover the cooked Mahi Mahi with it.  Serve at room temperature.

Related Posts:

• Swordfish Caponata
• OCTOPUS SALAD
• CAPONATA
• Sicilian Sweet and Sour Mackerel
• Tuna, Olive and Caper Pasta with Garlic Breadcrumbs