Pesce spada alla ghiotta
Costa Viola swordfish with tomato, capers, and olives
On the Costa Viola, the swordfish is never an abstract luxury. It belongs to the Strait, to the tall feluche that still pursue it, and to a cooking style with enough salt, sweetness, and acidity to stand up to its dense flesh. Pesce spada alla ghiotta is the cleanest expression of that idea: fish in a quick tomato sauce sharpened by capers and olives.
The dish also crosses the water to Messina, and the two shores have plenty of opinions about it. Some versions add celery, pine nuts, or dried fruit. The Reggino classic stays closer to the fish: fresh tomato, olives, capers, Tropea onion, and olive oil, kept bright rather than cooked into a heavy ragù.
Serve the swordfish hot, with its sauce spooned over and good bread nearby for the last spoonfuls. The fish stays moist when it cooks gently in the finished sauce.
Ingredients
For the ghiotta
- 60 ml(4 tbsp)extra-virgin olive oil
- 50 g (about ½ small)Tropea red onion or other mild red onion, finely chopped
- 300 gripe cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 35 g(about 2 tbsp)salt-packed capers, rinsed and soaked briefly if very salty
- 100 ggreen olives, pitted
- fine salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the fish
- 800 g(about 1¾ lb)fresh swordfish steaks, cut 2–3 cm (about 1 inch) thick
- 15 g(about ¼ cup)flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
Kitchen notes
- Swordfish
- Choose firm, fresh-looking steaks from a fishmonger who can identify the catch and handling. The traditional dish is built around swordfish; no substitute is offered because a different fish changes both its texture and identity.
- Capers and olives
- Use capers packed in salt, not capers in a sweet vinegar brine, and rinse them well. Green olives give this bright sauce its mild, buttery contrast to the capers.
Method
Start the sauce
- Warm the olive oil in a broad skillet with a lid over low heat. Add the onion with a small pinch of salt and cook until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes, without browning. Add the tomatoes and cook over medium-low heat until they slump and release a loose sauce, 8–10 minutes. Crush a few tomatoes with the back of a spoon.
Build the ghiotta
- Stir in the capers and olives. Simmer for 3 minutes, then taste before adding salt: the capers and olives already season the pan. The sauce should be glossy and fluid enough to surround the fish; add a spoonful of water only if it has reduced too far.
Cook the swordfish gently
- Season the swordfish lightly with pepper and only a little salt. Nestle the steaks into the sauce, spooning some tomato over their tops. Cover and cook at a quiet simmer for 4–5 minutes, turn carefully, and cook 3–5 minutes more, according to thickness. The center should separate into moist flakes and be just opaque; stop before it turns chalky.
Rest and serve
- Take the skillet off the heat, scatter in the parsley, and let the fish sit in the sauce for 2 minutes. Spoon each steak onto a warm plate with its tomatoes, capers, and olives. Serve immediately with crusty bread.