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2 snappers on a bed of little tomatoes, olives and fennel
  • mains

Pesce acqua pazza

translated it means fish in crazy water

This is a dish fishermen in the South of Italy used to cook, with freshly caught fish, while still at sea. To avoid a local tax on salt, they would combine a little sea water with wine and cook the fish in the salty mixture, which they called 'acqua pazza'- crazy water.

It's a wonderful dish, full of the flavours of the Mediterranean, and really easy to prepare. You can use a whole medium-sized fish, which presents beautifully, or filets. I chose a snapper but any good white fish will work well.

  • Ingredients
  • recipe for 4 people
  • 2 small snapper or 4 snapper filets
  • 1 medium leek, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 a fennel also thinly sliced
  • 300 gr little ripe tomatoes
  • fresh oregano and basilico
  • 2 big handful of pitted olives
  • 200 ml dry white wine
  • a little olive oil, salt and pepper
  • 1 chilli some of the filaments and seeds removed and finely chopped
  • a handful of capers
  1. pre heat the oven to 200˚

  2. oil an ovenproof dish that will hold your fish comfortably

  3. spread all the vegetables and olives over the dish

    prepared vegetables on oven tray
  4. add the fish or the filets, salt and pepper and a little more oil

    fish placed over vegetables
  5. now the wine and the herbs

  6. cover the tray with silver foil and put in oven for 15 minutes

    oven tray covered with silver foil
  7. remove silver foil and continue cooking for an other 10 minutes

    baked fish filets
  8. serve with some chopped Italian parsley sprinkled on top

    finished dish
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