I found this Tilapia with Fresh Basil recipe at the appropriately-named blog  Simple Recipes. True to its name, the dish was not only simple but the ingredients were inexpensive to buy.  Oh! I loved it even more.  All I needed to purchase was tilapia, the cheapest fish at the counter (about five bucks) and fresh basil (no more than two bucks).   After that, my grocery shopping was done and I actually had some change in my purse.  Normally, grocery shopping can be very expensive, especially when there’s a long ingredient list involved.

In this photo, I could have probably chopped or torn my basil leaves into smaller pieces but I was feeling a little lazy at the time. No matter, it still tasted good. I’ve made this wonderful recipe several times and when I didn’t have basil, I used my fave herb, cilantro.  Oh Heaven!   Loved it!

Another great thing about this recipe:  It was fast to prepare. Real fast. Thanks, Simple Recipes!  I’m so loving this tilapia recipe.

Paz

Tilapia with Fresh Basil
Simple Recipes

Ingredients:

2 fillets of Tilapia
1 teaspoon of paprika
Salt to taste
1 tablespoons of fresh basil chopped
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Preparation:

Coat a oven safe dish with olive oil, gently place the fillet of Tilapia and sprinkle with salt, paprika and top with basil. Place in a oven for approximately 15-20 minutes at 375F. Serve hot.

A recipe by celebrity chef, Giada, this Tilapia with Citrus Bagna Caôda (also spelled Bagna Cauda) is very good! From Ivonne, I learned that bagna caôda means ‘hot bath’ in Italian.

The recipe made for an easy cooking adventure for me. I prepared the bagna caôda sauce first — the main ingredients included anchiovies, olive oil, and orange juice.

Then I fried the fish. When cooked, I drizzled the sauce over the fish and served it with rice and salad.

Mmmm, Mmmm, good! Good to eat and easy to prepare! The tilapia fish was light and fluffy, and the citrus bagna caôda added a special explosive taste to the fish.

In a previous recipe post where I used tilapia (Fish with Tomato Sauce/Peixe com Mollo de Tomate), the question came up whether one could find tilapia in Italy. According to Helen of Beyond Salmon, the answer is ‘no.’ However, there are many other substitutes, such as:

Catfish Cod Hake Haddock Pollock Red Snapper Bass Sea Bream (Orata in Italian) Mediterranean Bass (Branzino in Italian)

Helen says that you can use, pretty much, any white or cream colored fish that is delicate or slightly firm as a substitute for tilapia. Thanks for the advice, Helen!

Paz

Ed. Note: Gia has informed me, in the comments section, that while not popular, tilapia is available in Torino.

Ed. Note:  Feb. 1, 2011 – Seems like I’ve lost half of this post, including the recipe.  I’m reposting the recipe, which is by Giada De Laurentis of Food Network.

Tilapia with Citrus Bagna Cauda

Giada De Laurentis (Food Network)

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons
• 4 anchovy fillets, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 6 (6-ounce) skinless tilapia fillets
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Last night, I made a fish dish from Giada’s show, Everyday Italian — Tilapia fish, covered with cannellini beans, mixed with radicchio and fish broth; lemon vinaigrette drizzeled over the talapia.

The vinaigrette consisted of fresh lemon juice, Italian parsley leaves, garlic, finely grated lemon zest, extra virgin oil, salt and pepper – just the right finishing touch.

The tilapia fish was tasty and flaky. The cannellini beans, soft and melted in my mouth.

Everything about this dish was perfect. Well almost.

The radicchio tasted bitter. Very bitter. Is that the way radicchio is supposed to taste or was it spoiled? Yuck!

I liked the dish and tried again. This time, I used a different kind of beans (I don’t remember which) since I didn’t have cannellini available. Unfortunately, I had the same problem with the radicchio. Again, it tasted bitter — so bitter that it was inedible. I will try the recipe again, but I will not use radicchio. It’s official. I do not like it radicchio.

Paz

White Fish with Lemon Vinaigrette

8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 3 shallots, thinly sliced 1 large head radicchio (about 12 ounces), coarsely chopped 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed 1/3 cup fish broth Salt and freshly ground black pepper 6 (5 to 6-ounce) whitefish fillets, such as tilapia All-purpose flour, for dredging Lemon Vinaigrette, recipe follows

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the radicchio and saute until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the beans and broth, and cook until the beans are heated through, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Season the radicchio mixture, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a 14-inch (or 2 smaller) nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the fillets with salt and pepper. Dredge the fillets in flour to coat completely. Shake off the excess flour and fry 3 fillets in each pan until they are golden brown and just cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.

Spoon the radicchio mixture over the center of the plates. Top with the fillets. Drizzle the vinaigrette over and serve immediately.

Lemon Vinaigrette: 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh Italian parsley leaves 2 cloves garlic 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil Blend the lemon juice, parsley, garlic, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a blender. With the machine running, gradually blend in the oil. Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with more salt and pepper.