"Are you sure that this is what you want to make as first course for Passover dinner?” asked my better half, with a look that makes you wonder if it wasn’t better to stay in bed that morning and play sick. “I thought that this might be an excellent first course” I answered trying to sound convincing. “Actually, I’m sure it will make an excellent first course, excellent and delicious” she added, “but preparing 25 personal dishes? The kind you have to make to order so they come out right??”
Needless to say that she knew that when I say first course it means that before the first course there will be soup, several types of salads, a main course with beef, one with chicken in case someone doesn’t like the beef, 2-3 side dishes next to the protein so that our vegetarian guest will also have something to eat.
We had already set the dinner table in the morning. One after the other the dishes entered the oven, were cooked and placed on a warming plate. Exhilarating scents of cooking filled the house. I prepared the salads the day before. All that needed to be done was placing them on the serving plates. The matzo ball soup was ready and the matzo balls were bumping gently into each other. On the kitchen granite, in neat rows, stood 25 decorated plates waiting for their ratatouille and pan-seared fish. I prepared the fish in four different pans, so we could serve them all together. “Looks really good” my better half said with a smile as she was helping me with plating and serving.
Ingredients
6 striped-bass fillet
Flour
Salt
Black pepper
1 TBS olive oil
Ratatouille
1 onion - diced
1 red bell pepper - diced
1 yellow pepper - diced
1 small eggplant - diced
1 zucchini - diced
3 tomatoes - diced
3 garlic cloves - sliced
4 fresh thyme sprigs
2 TBS basil leaves cut to stripes
Kosher salt
Black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
Heat ¼ cup olive oil in a deep pan. Add onion and fry to golden. Add garlic and fry one more minute. Add peppers mix and fry 2 minutes. Add eggplant, fry 2 minutes. Add the zucchini mix and fry 2 more minutes. Add tomatoes, salt, black pepper and thyme, mix well, cover the pan and cook for 7 minute on low heat. Add basil leaves, mix and take off stove.
In a heavy pan heat 1 TBS olive oil. Flour the skin side of the fish, add kosher salt and black pepper. Fry 3 minutes skin side down until crispy, flip and fry 2 more minutes.
Place a spoonful ratatouille in the center of a plate and put the seared fish on top of it.
