With Lent soon approaching fish dishes will become front and center and although there are multiple ways to cook fish, this is one of my favorites, cod fish made cacciatore style.
Cacciatore means hunter in Italian and it refers to a meal prepared hunter-style, usually in a pan with tomatoes, vegetables, herbs, wine and other things.
There are numerous chicken cacciatore recipes if you search for them, I even have one here on my blog, but this recipe is changed up by using fish, fresh wild caught cod.
Actually you can use any firm white fish, I just like using cod because it’s readily available in my area and also reasonably priced and super delicious.
The cod poaches in a full-bodied sauce and the fish takes on all that delicious flavor in every bite.
Crusty bread is a must for sopping up those juices but you might also want to serve this with pasta, rice or potatoes as well.
I opted for some roasted asparagus to keep it on the lighter side but believe me I’ve had it with angel hair pasta and it’s amazing!
- 1½ lbs. of fresh wild caught cod, or other firm white fish cut into 3 inch chunks and patted dry
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced into strips
- 1 onion, sliced
- 4 cloves chopped. garlic
- 6 or 7 campari tomatoes ( they're the size of a golf ball, if you can't find them use grape tomatoes to match equivalent size. You just want to use fresh tomatoes and have enough so that the fish can nestle in among the veggies and when it cooks down creates a sauce, large chop the tomatoes
- tomato paste, a good 2 or 3 tablespoons
- red pepper paste for heat, (optional) according to your heat level or some a pinch of red pepper flakes
- olives, kalamata or castelvetrano your desired amount
- 2 tablespoons, capers
- dry white wine, a good splash
- broth, to even out sauce
- fresh chopped basil, parsley and thyme
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- In a heavy bottomed pan drizzled with olive oil, add the peppers, onions, garlic, sauté til softened.
- Add a good squeeze of tomato paste and optional red pepper paste or pepper flakes onto the veggies.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Splash in the white wine and incorporate it with the veggies and let it cook down for a minute.
- Add the tomatoes, capers, olives, herbs and a little broth, and let it simmer til tomatoes break down and thicken up, taste for seasoning adding more of what you like, if too thick, add some broth, or too thin add more tomatoes.
- When sauce has thickened up and pretty much finished cooking add the fish and nestle it all around spooning some of the sauce on each piece.
- Simmer and slightly cover the pan, fish cooks quickly, when it looks opaque it's done.
- Sprinkle with more of the herbs for garnish.
- Serve alone with crusty bread, green veggie, pasta, rice or potatoes.
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I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
Going to make this week. I enlarged the picture, such a coincidence, I buy my fish at Caputos too!
Hi neighbor!
Made this tonight! Very good…I used Dover sole because that is all they had at Publix, was very good. I imagine with chunks of cod even better!
Try it with cod next time, the thick pieces work well into the sauce, but so happy you liked it
I made this for dinner tonight – delicious and easy! Thanks so much Marie
Oh, that makes me happy Mary!
Ahh this looks beautiful making it today ! Thank you
Enjoy!
Prepared and served this for dinner tonight and it was excellent! I followed the recipe as written, but added sliced yellow and green zucchini to have more veggies and add a bit more liquid without using broth. We ended up with a dense flavor and amount of veggies and fish with just enough delicious liquid to soak up with our crusty bread. We needed nothing else but a lovely glass of wine to accompany what will become a regular dinner for us. Thank you, Marie!
Love this cod fish recipe. Will share with my family. Thank you,
Hope you all enjoy Fernando!
I just made this dish tonight and it was so delicious! I served it over polenta and we drank the same white wine that I used in the dish. Absolutely outstanding! I can’t wait to make it again. I would like t double the recipe next time. Will I need to make any adjustments? Thanks for your amazing recipes.
Denise, honestly I would just double it all, the more the better!
Simple and so good. I just wish I saw the suggestion for serving over polenta
Hi Marie and fellow Chicagoan! Your recipe sounds delicious and I will certainly make it on fish Fridays during lent or anytime, really! How many people does your recipe serve?? Thank you!
I would say 3 but if you’re serving a starch with it like pasta then maybe 4 ( depending on the appetites of those eating)
This was excellent. I used cod. I’m a natural cook and followed most of the directions, adding my own. For me Cacciatore must have lemon, lots of it, squeezed and zested. I also had marinated artichokes to add and used two kinds of olives. It was easy and so flavorful. The fresh herbs made a huge difference. We served with Green beans and cous cous, but I think it would be better with rice.
Sounds like a wonderful meal Marina, love the artichoke addition!
I thought I’d made Cod every way possible! I guess not because the Cacciatore way has not been one of them. Now, we’ve made it puttanesca style which is quick and delicious!! I’ll definitely be making your recipe — the addition of the the peppers really brightens up the dish!! Brava!!!!! Un abbraccio forte.
This looks delicious, Marie!
I make baccala (salted dried cod fish) in a similar way for Christmas Eve. After soaking the baccala first, I flour and fry the codpieces first before continuing to cook them in the sauce, as I found the baccala holds its shape better that way and they don’t fall apart. I also add some hot Calabrian peppers into the mix. I then serve it over boiled potatoes. It is my husband and son’s favorite!
Polenta!! Smothered in sauce & fish
Yes, so delicious as well!