Call this fish with puttanesca sauce—strong flavored, and swordfish can really take it. Serve with plenty of crusty bread or scoop out the fish after it cooks, put the sauce over pasta, and serve the fish on the side.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

　　1 1/2 to 2 pounds swordfish, in 1 piece

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　1 tablespoon minced garlic

　　2 tablespoons drained capers

　　2 small dried chiles or a large pinch of hot red pepper flakes, or to taste

　　1/4 cup black or green olives, preferably not canned

　　4 cups (about one 28-ounce can) chopped tomatoes with their juice

　　Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish

　　

Step 1

Put the oil in a deep skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the fish and brown it well, rotating and turning it as necessary and sprinkling it with salt and pepper; the process should take less than 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the fish.

　　

Step 2

Turn the heat to medium and add the garlic, capers, chiles, and olives. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about a minute; add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Gently slide the fish into the sauce and cook, turning once, until it is tender, about 5 minutes more. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary, then garnish and serve.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.