My family and I just returned from an epic Italian adventure where we ate our hearts out! We spent four days in Rome and then another four days in Palermo, Sicily and did our very best to try all of the local specialties. It was quite hot while we were in Italy, so for lunch we would stick to smaller meals such as Roman and Neapolitan pizza, focaccia sandwiches and caprese salads all followed by gelato. Once the sun went down, we indulged in all the pastas, followed by more gelato!
Palermo is known for its famous outdoor street markets that are beautifully chaotic. The most well-known markets are Capo, Ballarò and Vucciria, which are all located in the historical city center.
The Capo market was a short walk from our Airbnb, so we strolled over and immersed ourselves in the hectic, hot and crowded scene and loved every minute of it. It was a sensory overload with vendors excitedly yelling, merchants asking if you wanted to buy this or that, and scooters weaving their way through the throngs of tourists and locals.
After scoping out the market and taking it all in, we went back to one vendor that was selling the most beautiful arancini you have ever seen. They also prepared pig spleen sandwiches, a local delicacy, and my husband devoured one on the spot! After we got our piping hot arancini, we ducked over to a quieter side street to eat them.
It’s hard to put into words how epic and incredible they were. The exterior was so crispy and crunchy, the interior piping hot with perfectly tender rice and a center that was full of a expertly seasoned spiced ground beef and pea mixture. I will forever remember that experience.
Because we had this amazing market at our fingertips and a well-equipped kitchen in the apartment, we decided it would only be fitting to shop the market and prepare a meal featuring local ingredients.
The next day, my husband and I went back to the market with a shopping list, a stack of euro and Google translate at our fingertips. Our meal revolved around pesce spada, the Italian word for swordfish, which is very popular in Sicily. The fish vendor at the market had the most beautiful front half of a of swordfish on display that we couldn’t pass up, so we asked for mezze chilo, half a kilo.
We also picked up some tomatoes, basil, garlic, onions, olives, capers, lemons, olive oil and aged pecorino cheese, so we could prepare a simple pasta dish and a sauce to accompany the fish.
To make the fresh tomato sauce for the pasta, we used a grater to puree the large, fresh tomatoes into a pulp while leaving the skin behind. We added the tomato pulp and some local white wine to sautéed garlic and onions, and finished with salt and pepper.
We sautéed zucchini, onions and grape tomatoes to toss with the pasta and sauce, and finished with a very large handful of fresh basil, grated pecorino and green olives.
For the swordfish sauce, we sautéed a large amount of thinly sliced garlic in an even larger amount of olive oil. We finished the sauce with strips of lemon zest, capers, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
We very simply seared the pieces of fish on both sides until it was just cooked through, transferred it to a platter and spooned the sauce over the top. So simple and delicious!
We enjoyed a bottle of Sicilian white wine along with our meal, and it was perfection!
Sicilian Swordfish with Garlic, Capers and Lemon
Yield: 4 servings
Active time: 30 minutes
Start to finish: 30 minutes
For the sauce:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons capers
Lemon juice to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Four 5- to 6-ounce swordfish steaks
Salt and pepper to taste
- Pour the olive oil into a small saucepan and add the garlic. Cook over low heat until aromatic, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the lemon zest, capers and lemon juice to taste. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil.
- Season the fish with salt and pepper to taste, and sear in the hot pan on the first side until golden brown. Flip and repeat. Continue to cook until the internal temperature reads 140° on a meat thermometer.
- Transfer the fish to a platter, and spoon the olive oil-garlic sauce right over the top.
In addition to enjoying the arancini at the market and the homecooked meal, we also devoured specialties such as Pasta con le Sarde (pasta with sardines); Spaghetti with Clams; Busiate with Mussels, Almonds and Mint; Bucatini with Squid Ink Sauce; Squid Ink Arancini; Neapolitan Pizza; Fresh Oysters; Tuna Crudo, Marinated Swordfish, Anchovies and Cured Salmon; Fried Calamari; Caponata (sweet and savory eggplant relish), and of course Cannoli.
It was a dream come true to travel to the beautiful island of Sicily. The ancient ruins, majestic churches, vibrant street art, beautiful and kind people, and super fresh local ingredients were all so inspiring. I’m exited to bring the simple, flavorful and local ingredients of Palermo to my everyday cooking at home to keep the memories alive.
Thankfully you don’t need to travel all the way to Sicily to experience the amazing food. You can join us next month on August 2 or August 30 for our hands-on Savoring Sicily class where you’ll prepare Caponata, Pesce Spada (swordfish), Busiate with Pesto Trapanese (tomato pesto) and Cannoli.
