Red Snapper With Eggplant and Tomato
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more if needed
- 1 large onion, peeled and diced
- 2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 large eggplant (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch rounds
- 1 1/2 pounds red snapper fillets, deboned, with skin on one side, cut into 8 rectangular slices
- In a large saucepan, place 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the onion, cover the pan, and sweat the onion for about 10 minutes.
- Then, add the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, garlic, 1 tablespoon of the vinegar, the honey and 1 additional tablespoon of the oil.
- Simmer, uncovered, over medium heat for 15 minutes, until much of the liquid has evaporated.
- Discard the bay leaf, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Puree in a food processor, and then put through a fine sieve.
- Heat 2 more tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick pan, and fry the eggplant until the rounds are golden brown on both sides.
- Repeat until all the eggplant has been cooked, adding more oil, if needed, for each new batch.
- Drain on paper towels; season with salt and pepper.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of vinegar to the pan, and stir for 1 minute over high heat to deglaze the pan.
- Spoon the liquid over the eggplant.
- Clean the nonstick pan.
- Working very carefully with the fish fillets, salt and pepper them on both sides.
- Place the fillets in the pan, and over medium heat fry them for 2 to 3 minutes on each side in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.
- For each serving, place the tomato sauce in the middle of the plate, top with several rounds of the eggplant and then, carefully, with 2 fish fillets, skin side up.
- Serve warm.
extravirgin olive oil, onion, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, clove garlic, redwine vinegar, honey, salt, eggplant, red snapper
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/5135 (may not work)