Pan-Seared Fish With Citrus Pesto Recipe (2024)

What fish might typically be used in Sicily, for this? I somehow doubt salmon, char... so, just curious. Swordfish?

Made the pesto with pistachios and lemon and orange zest from our trees. Fresh and delicious. I might add anchovy next time for even more umami. Pan frying is a very simple way to cook a skin-on fish filet with surprisingly tasty results. We also tried the pesto on penne and it was yummy.

Absolutely delicious. I used mint but didn’t have quite enough so filled in with a little parsley and dill.

Very nice recipe that is true to Sicilian tradition. No garlic overkill, for one thing, Some NYT recipes based on Sicilian cooking call for 6 to 8 cloves. Matri santa!

Bravo! No garlic! More no-garlic recipes please. Sometimes ginger or fennel can be used in lieu but please know there are many of us allium-intolerant cooks & food lovers in your readership

Made exactly as listed using lemon juice, grapefruit zest and only basil. Served it on Alaskan Halibut. Outstanding!

As a garlic lover (who usually doubles the listed amount in every recipe), I was disconcerted to see none included here. Despite my temptation to add garlic and anchovy, I made the recipe as written. Wow, this pesto is delicious! Intensely flavorful, bright, and balanced. I dolloped some onto fresh rockfish and tossed the leftover pesto (it makes a lot extra) with linguine. It doesn’t need any additions.

Too much salt IMO.

I made with almond, lemon and about 1/3 mint and 2/3 basil. The fish was Mahi Mahi. It was good, but too heavy on the salt. I will use at most half of the salt next time.

@Nick. The paragraph description mentions anchovies as being paired normally with this Sicilian pesto.

Delicious! Substituted pepitas for nuts due to allergy, and served with tilapia. Very fresh and citrusy, perfect for springtime.

Excellent. Used half mint, half basil. Served with roasted asparagus and lentils. The pesto was delicious on EVERYTHING. Quick and easy.

Made this with 1/2 basil and 1/2 mint and lemon zest and juice. Turned out great--people wanted extra pesto to mop up with bread.

Just mad this tonight with basil and mint combo, pistachios, lemon zest and juice, lemon olive oil and EVOO. My hubby, who is very wary about such new foods, liked it!! I only made 1/2 recipe and served with one 6 oz halibut and broccoli. Wr eat small portions.

This is a Great recipe! Made earlier in the summer with my abundant garden basil to do “ something different”. Loved it so much that I just made another batch to freeze for the winter before my basil gets zapped by frost.

Made this with roasted salmon, so not only was it super quick, but I now am have another recipe to use up bumper crops of basil! Used all basil, almonds, & lemon and could barely stop myself from eating it out of the bowl. Salt proportion was fine for me.

The sauce is delicious and could be served over anything and it'd be a hit. I grilled some cod outside and served it with this grilled halloumi and zucchini recipe to use up some of the extra sauce since it seemed so similar. Fabulous meal. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024518-grilled-halloumi-and-zucchini-with-salsa-verde?smid=pin-share

Delicious with swordfish, even if we didn't have enough capers on hand, and also had to sub raw almonds (which I pan-toasted) for slivered. We had limes, and lots of fresh mint, so that's what I used. I think it'll come out better when I have access to a mini-chopper, the smoothie blender was a bit awkward. Still, it was a big success. Didn't use any salt.

I used tilapia and lime and it worked great!

Used walnuts and didn’t put quite as much lemon in (I was a bit low on basil so it would have been overpowering). I used cod as my fish which was delicious, although not very pretty since I massacred it while trying to flip the fillet (I don’t cook fish very often). My roommate Jack came home right when I was plating and I immediately told him he couldn’t make fun of me because I’d never cooked cod before, to which he said “It looks like the cod cooked you!” Thanks Jack.

Question. I froze some of the pesto last time I made this. Do you think that would harm the quality of the flavor

This recipe is very flavorful. It's almost June here in Cincinnati and I already have a lot of mint growing. I served this with roast salmon, squid ink linguini and peas, garnishing with mint leaves. Beautiful and delicious.

I halved the pesto recipe, substituted almonds and grapefruit zest and juice! Was delightful. Made just enough for two servings of salmon.

I’ve never made pesto without Parmesan and garlic before, but this was delicious and easy to make with things i already had on hand. I omitted the capers because I didn’t have any and instead just used kosher salt to taste. I went with almonds and roughly 3:1 basil to mint. Served with garlic roasted potatoes and roasted vegetables, this made for a simple dinner that came together in under an hour total with minimal cleanup.

made pesto without capers, only citrus being lemon and plated over cod - quite nice - thank you!