How to Make Red Snapper a La Veracruzana

Red snapper a la Veracruzana is a seafood dish from the seaside Mexican town of Veracruz. It can make an excellent way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, and adds a little zest to an otherwise ordinary fish dinner. The sauce gives it an additional spice, which works especially well with other whitefish of the red snapper variety. You can make red snapper a la Veracruzana with common ingredients and little effort beyond what you would normally put forth to make any basic seafood recipe.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 2 tbsp. butter
• Saucepan, small
• 2 lbs. red snapper
• Baking dish, buttered
• Pastry brush
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
• 1 tbsp. green chilies, diced
• 1 tbsp. capers
• 1/3 cup olives, stuffed
• Serving dish

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, so that it liquefies but does not boil.

3. Place the red snapper in the buttered baking dish and brush the melted butter over it. Add salt and pepper to taste, along with any other seasonings you might prefer.

4. Place the red snapper in the oven and let it bake for about 30 minutes. You want to fish to flake easily with a fork when it is done.

5. Heat the olive oil slowly in a saucepan, over low or medium heat. Sauté the garlic and the onion in the pan until they are tender.

6. Add the tomato paste, chilies, capers and olives to the saucepan. Blend everything together thoroughly.

7. Simmer the mixture over medium heat for about 20 minutes. (It should take about the same amount of time to heat the olive oil, mix the ingredients and simmer the resulting mixture as it does for the fish to cook in the oven.)

8. Remove the red snapper from the oven and place it on a serving dish.

9. Pour the sauce evenly over it, making sure it covers as much of the fish as possible.

10. Garnish the red snapper a la Veracruzana with parsley sprigs, or similar garnishes, and serve it hot. These guidelines make enough for 6 servings.

Tips & Warnings

• Obviously, red snapper is the preferred fish to use for red snapper a la Veracruzana, but you can swap it out for just about any whitefish.
• You can make fewer servings of this dish by reducing the ingredients proportionally. Half the suggested amount of fish, and an equivalent reduction in the other ingredients, will make an excellent dinner for two.