Have you ever had chicken piccata? It’s a classic Italian dish made with sliced chicken breast in a lemon, butter and caper sauce. It is so delicious. It’s a nice light meal because there is no heavy tomato sauce like many other Italian dishes and there is so much lemon juice which brightens everything up.

Today’s meal takes that classic but uses fish in place of the chicken! This recipe comes from The Mediterranean Dish website (recipe here). The recipe says you can use any thin white fish, like sole or halibut. I actually chose to use pollock and it worked perfectly here too. You essentially just want a mild fish that will cook quickly.

The fish gets dredged in flour and then pan fried until it begins to flake – be sure to not overcook because otherwise it will fall apart in the sauce later. Coating the fish in flour gives it almost like a crust which may seem like a waste of time because it’s going to be sitting in a lot of sauce but trust me, do not skip that step! The flour is also seasoned which adds a lot of extra flavour.

The key to piccata is the sauce. It’s made with butter, olive oil, lemon juice, wine or broth and capers. It is a little rich with the oil and butter but the lemon juice cuts right through it and adds so much freshness. Then you get a caper which packs such a good salty punch. It is such a nice balanced meal and no flavour is too strong. The final touch is the sprinkle of chili flakes and parsley which adds a slight kick and even more freshness, respectively.

I served this with some rice and steamed broccoli and it was an amazing meal. If you’re looking for more ways to cook with fish, definitely give this piccata a try!