Acquapazza
SERVES 4
Depending on where you go in Italy, this is either a soup—if you add more leafy greens—or a base for a fish entrée where you cook the fish in it and then serve it as a side broth. If you don’t have fish, as we didn’t most of the time, serve this as a very basic vegetable soup.
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cups dry white wine
2 cups water
1 tsp. salt
A handful of baby spinach
4 small fillets of snapper or salmon, 4–6 oz. each
30 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 cup basil leaves
Zest of 1 lemon or 1 lime
2 tbsp. capers, rinsed
2 tbsp. flat parsley leaves, torn
1 lemon, sliced into wedges
In a large sauté pan over low heat, cook the crushed garlic in the oil until it is lightly caramelized. Add the wine, water, and salt and bring to a heavy boil.
Simmer for 5 minutes, add the baby spinach, let it wilt, then gently slip the fish fillets into the stock. Add the cherry tomatoes, basil, lemon or lime zest, and capers and continue simmering for another 5 minutes. Carefully turn the fish, and simmer for another 6 minutes, depending on the size of the fillets. The fish is done when the flesh falls apart easily when poked with a fork.
Remove the fish to 4 warm bowls. Bring the stock to a boil and spoon it over the fish. Serve topped with parsley and lemon wedges.