Puttanesca fish tray bake

Baked fish dinners can be so dull. Not this one! Think – spaghetti puttanesca flavours in the form of a one pan fish dinner. It’s a Puttanesca fish tray bake! Good for you, easy to make, fabulously delicious.

No more dull baked fish dinners!

This is a dinner inspired by pasta puttanesca – minus the spaghetti, multiple pots and stove splatter. The sauce has all the trademarks – tomato, olives, capers, even anchovies (!) – but it’s baked on one tray with fish, potatoes to fill it out and fennel for a grown up touch.

It’s a complete meal, colourful, good for you, vibrant, and anything but boring. I throw this last line in because I spent my twenties convinced fish couldn’t be tasty unless it had been seared or fried. This recipe would’ve changed my mind!

Ingredients you need for this tray bake dinner

Here’s what you need to make this Puttanesca fish tray bake.

White fish fillets

I use barramundi in this recipe. The meaty and juicy flesh makes it ideal for the assertive Mediterranean flavour of the puttanesca-ish sauce, and the fillets are thick enough to make them suitable for cooking in the oven.

But any firm, white fish fillets about 2.5 – 3 cm/1″ thick will work a treat here. See below for a list.

for the Puttanesca SAUCE

Here’s what you need for the puttanesca-ish part – most of the ingredients used in puttanesca plus potatoes to bulk it out and fennel for flavour and a touch of grown-up sweetness (it’s really good, urge you not to skip it!).

• Anchovies – Addressing this right up front because I know it’s a divisive ingredient! But they really do add savouriness, and it’s a key ingredient in Puttanesca. Think of it as the better salt. But, if you’re very anti-anchovies, you can either reduce to 1 anchovy or substitute with 1 teaspoon fish sauce or 1/4 tsp extra cooking salt / kosher salt.

• Fennel – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s such an under-utilised vegetable! It has subtle aniseed flavour which adds freshness and interest to dishes, it’s economical most of the year round and easy to cut. It deserves way more love in everyday cooking!

• Baby capers and kalamata olives – Lovely briny pops that add tang and salt into the sauce as it bakes. I use baby capers because they’re smaller – if using regular capers, just give them a rough chop. And I prefer kalamata over regular black olives as they are softer and have better flavour.

• Baby potatoes – Or regular potatoes, peeled, and cut. Any type of potato is fine here.

• Canned tomato – This is the primary ingredient that creates the sauce for this dish.

• Cherry or grape tomatoes – These add pops of juicy bursts in the sauce. They cook through enough so they are soft but are still holding together when they come out of the oven.

• Garlic – Of course it’s in. 3 big cloves!

• Oregano – For background flavour without competing with all the other flavours.

• Chilli flakes – Also called red pepper flakes, the recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon which is barely enough for a mild level of spiciness. Feel free to omit – or add more! You can also add your favourite chilli sauce when eating, if you want more heat.

• Basil (optional!) – Yes, if you’ve got a basil bush in your backyard, it is a great finish for this dish. But don’t let the absence of basil hold you back from making this! Excellent substitutes – parsley (any kind), chives (just a light sprinkle).

How to make Puttanesca fish tray bake dinner

I know most simple tray bake dinners call for everything to go into the oven at once, but this one is a 3-stage bake: potatoes first, then the puttanesca sauce, and finally the fish (we don’t want to overcook it!). It actually flows nicely – you leisurely prep the next component while the last one bakes, and have time to put your feet up with a glass of wine in between.

1. Potatoes first – Toss the potatoes with oil, salt and pepper. Then pop in the oven to give them a 20 minute head start.

2. Puttanesca sauce (stew?) next – Mix up the puttanesca sauce ingredients (the canned tomato, veg, dried oregano, olives, capers and anchovies). Then add it to the tray and bake for another 10 minutes. Note: the mixture doesn’t look very saucy but once baked and combined with the juices from the fish, you will have plenty of sauce.

3. Top with fish – Then put the fish on top, drizzle everything with olive oil and bake for another 15 minutes or until the fish flakes easily.

4. Serve – Sprinkle with basil (if using) and the reserved fennel fronds. And that’s it – dinner’s up!

Matters of serving

I always feel like thick semi-stewy sort of dishes like this are crying out for crusty bread that you can stuff, and use for dunking and mopping, or crispy crostini for scooping and piling. Though actually, the potato in this dish fills it out so even without bread, the portion servings are decent. Let’s say without bread it’s a sensible serving size. With bread, it’s a generous serving size.

You could also increase the amount of potato in this to fill it out more and serve without bread. Or serve it over another starchy vehicle of choice – pasta, couscous (plain – no nuts, herbs, fruit or lemon), or rice (plain, or try garlic rice!).

So many possibilities…..share your thoughts! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Puttanesca Fish Tray Bake

Author: Nagi

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 45 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr

Mains

Western

4.89 from 18 votes

Servings4

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Recipe video above. Baked fish dinners can be so dull. Not this one! Think – spaghetti puttanesca flavours in the form of a one pan fish dinner. It's a Puttanesca fish tray bake! Good for you, easy to make, fabulously delicious.

Note: If you only have fine table salt, halve the salt quantities else it will be too salty.

Ingredients

CupsMetric

Roasted potatoes:

• ▢ 600g/1.2 lb baby potatoes , smaller ones up to 3.5cm/1.5″ halved, larger ones quartered (Note 1)
• ▢ 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• ▢ 1/4 tsp black pepper

Puttanesca sauce:

• ▢ 1 medium fennel , fronds reserved for garnish, halved, cut into 0.5cm / 0.2" half moon shapes (Note 2)
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups (200g) cherry or grape tomatoes (1 punnet)
• ▢ 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves , finely minced (can use garlic crusher)
• ▢ 3 tbsp baby capers (or regular, roughly chopped)
• ▢ 3 anchovy fillets , finely minced – can reduce to 1 (Note 3)
• ▢ 400g/ 14oz canned tomato , crushed or diced
• ▢ 1/2 tsp chilli flakes (red pepper flakes), mild spiciness, can reduce or omit
• ▢ 1 tsp dried organo
• ▢ 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• ▢ 1/4 tsp black pepper

Fish:

• ▢ 4 x 160 – 180g / 6oz barramundi fillets , skinless, or other firm fish fillets about 2.5/3cm/1" thick (Note 4)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• ▢ 1/4 tsp black pepper
• ▢ 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Finishing / serving:

• ▢ 1 loosely packed cup basil leaves , roughly chopped (recommended but can live without or sub with 2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley)
• ▢ Warm crusty bread , for mopping

Cook ModePrevent screen from sleeping

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 220°C/390°F (200°C fan-forced).
• Roast potatoes: In a large mixing bowl, toss the potatoes with the oil, salt and pepper. Spread on a baking tray with a rim at least 2cm/0.8" high (or 23x33cm / 9×13" pan). Roast for 20 minutes.
• Puttanesca sauce: Meanwhile, mix all the sauce ingredients together (use the potato bowl, no need to clean). Add to the tray, toss with the potatoes, return to the oven for 10 minutes.
• Season fish: Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Sprinkle each side with the salt and pepper.
• Bake fish: Place fish on top of puttanesca sauce. Drizzle all over with the 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil. Bake 15 minutes or until fish is just cooked through (it should flake easily).
• Serve: Remove from the oven. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil, scatter with basil and reserved fennel fronds. Serve with warm, crusty bread!

Recipe Notes:

1. Potato – Cut into pieces no thicker than 1.75cm/ 2/3″, else they may not cook through enough. You can also use regular potatoes, peeled or unpeeled scrubbed clean, cut into small cubes.

2. Cut fennel – Cut off the stalks and fronds (save the dill-like fine fronds for garnish). Slice a thin piece off the base if it’s browned. Slice the fennel bulb in half vertically, then cut each half into 0.5cm / 0.2″ thin half-moon shapes.

3. Anchovies – Secret ingredient! I know anchovies are divisive. But they really do add savouriness. Think of it as the better salt! 3 anchovies = faintly taste, 1 anchovy = can’t taste. But, if you’re very anti anchovies, substitute with 1 teaspoon fish sauce or 1/4 tsp heaped extra cooking/kosher salt.

4. Fish fillets

• Suitable for this recipe – any firm white fish fillets that are ~2.5cm/1″ thick including: cod (any), emperor, grouper, gummy shark, hake, halibut, jewfish (mulloway), ling, monkfish (large), ocean trout, pollock (aka coley), salmon, snapper, stripe bass, tilapia – the thick part.
• Frozen fish – Thaw and pat off excess water well, then proceed with recipe.
• Small thin fish fillets (like bream or dory) and long narrow fish (flathead or monkfish) – cooks faster, see Ingredients section in post for recipe adjustment.
• Avoid: lean fish (swordfish, tuna, kingfish, mahi mahi) – risky to cook well in the oven, oily fish (mackerel, sardines).

Leftovers will keep for 3 days in the fridge. Not suitable for freezing.

Nutrition per serving, excluding bread.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 433cal (22%)Carbohydrates: 42g (14%)Protein: 36g (72%)Fat: 15g (23%)Saturated Fat: 2g (13%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 71mg (24%)Sodium: 1426mg (62%)Potassium: 1976mg (56%)Fiber: 8g (33%)Sugar: 9g (10%)Vitamin A: 772IU (15%)Vitamin C: 60mg (73%)Calcium: 135mg (14%)Iron: 4mg (22%)

Keywords: baked fish, fish tray bake, sheet pan dinner, sheet pan fish recipe, tray bake dinner

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Some of my favourite fish dinner recipes

Sizzling Ginger Fish makes a frequent appearance around here – it’s so quick and easy!

Acqua Pazza – Italian Poached Fish

Sizzling Ginger Steamed Fish

Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce

Lemon garlic salmon tray bake – easy & healthy!

Whole Baked Fish – Snapper with Garlic & Dill Butter Sauce

Homemade Filet-O-Fish (BAKED!!)

Fish Tacos

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Brazilian Fish Stew (Moqueca Baiana)

Fish Pie (for Easter!)

Fish recipes

Life of Dozer

Look who starred on Better Homes & Gardens last Friday! 🥰

As his personal assistant, I was caught on camera once or twice too, along with Mama RecipeTin and our very own JB. Hard to say who stole the show – Mama RecipeTin by declaring herself the winner in the gyoza wrapping competition and that “everybody else comes last” (I mean, who says that to a famous person like Johanna Griggs??! 🤦🏻‍♀️)……..

……or JB for his show-off appetiser he made especially for the host Johanna Griggs – a crispy kataifi wrapped scampi (langoustine) with a yuzu beurre blanc, green shiso/ginger oil and a crispy shiso leaf. French X Japanese fusion for the homemade Japanese feast we did for the show!

As for Mr Dozer, I’m disappointed to report that his usual professional behaviour slipped up somewhat. Let’s just say there were a few diva moments, howling dramatically if he was not in shot or physically glued to my side. Clearly, he didn’t like being on the sidelines.

It even got to the point where he was ruining takes – just look at JB’s face in the photo below as Dozer howls mid-filming. So, we had to assign someone the very important (full-time) job of being the official Dozer silencer. That lucky person was Candice, my publicist from Pan Macmillan (my publisher). Poor thing had to endure smelly old-man Dozer breath huffed and barked in her face all afternoon! 😂

To catch up, you can watch it here on 7Plus. (I’m sorry to say it’s not available for overseas viewers though I will ask the BHG team if we can arrange something.)