GEOFF’S Provençal Sauce for Pan-Seared Fish…
⏱️ Enjoy with your favourite beverage | 5 min read
This is the sauce I make when I want something that works with the fat in kingfish rather than against it. The anchovy is the decision – three fillets pressed into the oil until they dissolve completely, shifting the base from sharp to savoury before anything else goes in. The fish stock cubes do the heavy lifting for depth; I pull them straight from the freezer and let them melt into the sauce as it simmers. The verjuice goes in early and cooks down with the tomato – by the time the sauce is ready the acidity has rounded out but you can still feel it cutting through the richness of the fish. I use Penfolds kalamata paste rather than whole olives – it integrates into the sauce rather than sitting in it, and one ingredient does the work of two. I pool the sauce and sit the pan-seared fillet on top skin-side up.
For the fish, see GEOFF’s Pan-Seared Kingfish, Silver Trevally, Blue Eye Trevalla or Barramundi
GEOFF’S Provençal Sauce for Pan-Seared Fish…
"A versatile French-style sauce built on tomato, olives, and herbs – made alongside the pan-seared fish but equally at home with other proteins or as a finishing sauce in its own right."
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Make this sauce before cooking thefish. It holds well and improves with a few minutes of rest. The anchovies, capers, and kalamata paste all carry salt – do not add any additional salt until you have tasted the finished sauce.1. Heat the olive oil in a wide, heavy-based saucepan over induction setting 5 (medium gas flame). Add the shallots and cook for 6–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until completely soft and translucent but not coloured.2. Add the garlic and anchovy fillets. Cook for 2 minutes, pressing the anchovies with the back of a spoon until they dissolve entirely into the oil. The smell will shift from sharp to rounded and savoury.3. Pour in the verjuice. Let it bubble and reduce for 1 minute, scraping up anything stuck to the base of the pan.4. Add the tomatoes, fish stock cubes, kalamata paste, capers, bay leaf, thyme, and chilli flakes. Stir to combine. The stock cubes will melt into the sauce within a minute or two. If using fresh cherry tomatoes, press them gently with the back of a spoon as the skins begin to split to help them break down.5. Reduce to induction setting 3-4 (low–medium gas flame). Simmer uncovered for 20-25minutes with fresh cherry tomatoes, or 15-20 minutes with tinned. Stir occasionally until the sauce thickens enough to hold its shape but is still fluid enough to pool – it should coat the back of a spoon and leave a clean line when you draw your finger through.6. Remove the bay leaf. Taste carefully before seasoning – the anchovies, capers, and kalamata paste all carry salt. Add black pepper to taste, and salt only if genuinely needed. Add the torn basil just before serving.7. Pool 3-4 tablespoons of sauce per person into a wide shallow bowl or onto a warmed plate. Sit the fish portion skin-side up on the sauce. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Notes
Serving Suggestions
- The sauce is robust enough to handle roasted vegetables alongside. Skin-on potato wedges roasted in the oven at 200°C Fan Plus work well – they can go on the plate directly alongside the fish.
- Baked cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and capsicum are equally good if you have them.
- Steamed broccolini or green beans work if you want something lighter.
- A lemon wedge on the side lets the diner balance the sauce at the table.
- A Clare Valley Riesling or dry Grenache rosé from McLaren Vale holds up to the anchovy and olive without fighting them.
NOTES
- Salt management: this sauce has three salt sources – anchovies, capers, and kalamata paste. Do not add salt at any stage before tasting the finished sauce. Rinse the capers well. Start the kalamata paste at 10gm and taste before adding more. If the sauce is salty, a small amount of verjuice (10–15ml) stirred in at the end will shift perception without thinning the sauce significantly.
- Kalamata paste vs whole olives: the paste integrates into the sauce and distributes the olive flavour evenly throughout. Whole olives sit in the sauce and deliver the flavour in individual bites. Use one or the other – not both. 10–15gm of paste is the working range; dial to your taste across batches.
- Fresh vs tinned tomatoes: fresh cherry tomatoes produce a brighter, sweeter sauce with slightly less body. Tinned crushed tomatoes give a deeper, more acidic result with more liquid. Both work – fresh need an extra 5 minutes simmering and benefit from being pressed as the skins split.
- Make-ahead: the sauce can be made up to 2 hours ahead and kept warm on induction setting 1 (lowest gas flame), covered. Do not add the basil until just before serving. The sauce also improves the next day.
- Best fish match: kingfish and silver trevally. The fat in both carries the sauce without being overwhelmed by the anchovy and olive. Also works with barramundi. For blue eye trevalla, consider the Saffron, Leek and Cream Sauce instead.
- Refrigerate in a glass container for up to 2 days.
- Reheat gently in a small saucepan on induction setting 3 (low gas flame), stirring, or in the steam oven at 100°C for 8 minutes uncovered.
- Add a splash of verjuice if it has thickened.
- Freezes well for up to 2 months in 400–500gm glass containers (serves 2–3). T
- haw overnight in the fridge. Reheat on the stovetop over induction setting 4 (low–medium gas flame) with a splash of verjuice to loosen. Add fresh basil after reheating.
