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pan seared branzino recipe with fresh tagliatelle and tomato confit

Pan Seared Branzino with Fresh Tagliatelle, Tomato Confit, and Preserved Lemon Butter

Pan-seared branzino over handmade tagliatelle alla chitarra with tomato confit, preserved lemon butter, and basil oil. A private chef technique you can do at home.
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean
Calories: 485
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Tomato Confit
  • 24 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 4 tsp olive oil
  • 4 small garlic cloves, smashed
  • pinch salt
  • pinch black pepper
  • pinch dried thyme
Basil Oil
  • 1 cup packed basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • pinch salt
Preserved Lemon Butter
  • 4 tbsp butter, softened
  • 2 tsp preserved lemon, minced finely
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • pinch salt
  • pinch black pepper
Tagliatelle
  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 4 tsp olive oil
  • pinch salt
  • small splash of water, only if needed
Branzino
  • 12 oz branzino fillets, skin-on, pin bones removed
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • salt and black pepper, to taste
To Finish
  • 1/4 cup reserved pasta water
  • 2 tbsp parmesan, finely grated
  • 8-12 fresh basil leaves or micro basil

Equipment

  • Misen 5-Ply Stainless Steel Pan for crisp-skin pan-searing
  • Cutco 1738 Gourmet Prep Knife for trimming basil and slicing tomatoes
  • Microplane Zester Grater for parmesan and preserved lemon zest
  • Marcato Atlas 150 Pasta Maker for fresh tagliatelle, level 6

Method
 

Tomato Confit
  1. Preheat oven to 275°F.
  2. Toss tomatoes with olive oil, smashed garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper.
  3. Roast 45-60 minutes until soft, jammy, and lightly caramelized at the edges.
  4. Set aside warm. Make up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate if preparing in advance.
Basil Oil
  1. Blanch basil leaves in boiling water for 10 seconds. Transfer immediately to ice water.
    2. Blanch the Basil: Drop basil leaves in boiling water for exactly 10 seconds, then shock in ice water. This is what keeps the basil oil bright green through service. Skip it and the oil turns brown before dinner reaches the table.
  2. Squeeze completely dry. Blend with olive oil and a pinch of salt until smooth.
  3. Strain through a fine mesh strainer. Set aside.
Preserved Lemon Butter
  1. Taste the preserved lemon. If very salty, rinse under cold water first.
    2. Taste the Preserved Lemon First: Jarred preserved lemons vary wildly in salt level. Rinse under cold water if it tastes aggressively salty. The butter needs to taste bright and citrusy, not just salty.
  2. Mix softened butter with preserved lemon, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Set aside at room temperature.
Tagliatelle
  1. Mound flour on a clean surface. Make a well in the center. Add egg yolks and olive oil.
  2. Use a fork to gradually pull flour into the yolks from the inside wall of the well.
  3. Knead 5-7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest 20-30 minutes.
  4. Roll to about 1mm thick (level 6 on a pasta machine). Let the sheet rest 3-5 minutes.
  5. Fold loosely into thirds and cut into 1/4-inch ribbons. Unfurl gently and dust with semolina to prevent sticking.
  6. Cook in well-salted boiling water for 1-2 minutes until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water before draining.
Branzino
  1. Pat fillets completely dry. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat olive oil in a stainless or carbon steel pan over medium-high heat until nearly smoking. Lay fillets skin-side down. Press each fillet flat with a spatula for the first 20-30 seconds.
    3. Press the Fish Flat: Branzino skin contracts the moment it hits a hot pan. Hold the fillet flat with a spatula for the first 20-30 seconds. If you let it bow up, the skin cooks unevenly. Golden at the edges, pale in the middle. Press it, hold it, release it.
  3. Cook skin-side down 2-3 minutes until skin is golden and flesh is opaque halfway up.
  4. Flip. Cook 30-45 seconds on the flesh side. Remove and rest on a rack.
Assemble
  1. In a warm pan over low heat, melt preserved lemon butter with reserved pasta water. Add drained tagliatelle and toss until coated.
    2. Reserve the Pasta Water: Pull a quarter cup of pasta water before draining. The starch in it is what makes the butter sauce cling to the pasta and look glossy. Without it, the sauce breaks and pools at the bottom of the plate.
  2. Fold in confit tomatoes gently.
  3. Mound pasta in the center of a warm plate using tongs. Place branzino on top, skin-side up.
  4. Spoon basil oil around the base of the pasta. Finish with parmesan and fresh basil.

Notes

Plating: Tong the pasta into a twist in the center of a warm shallow bowl, slightly off-center at 5 o'clock. Branzino set on the pasta skin-up, angled against the mound so the crispy skin faces the diner. Butter sauce pooled around the base of the pasta, nothing over the fish. A few leaves of fresh basil on the fish. Fish stays otherwise naked.
Wine: Vermentino from Sardinia is the closest match. Crisp, mineral, with just enough body for the preserved lemon. Dry Provençal rosé works well in summer. If you want white Burgundy, a Chablis premier cru handles the acidity without overpowering the fish.
Prep ahead: Tomato confit keeps 3 days, refrigerated. Preserved lemon butter keeps 5 days. Basil oil should be made day-of. Cut the pasta into semolina-dusted nests and refrigerate up to 4 hours before service. The branzino is the only last-minute component.
Scaling for service: To 8: double everything. Cook the branzino in two pans simultaneously or two batches back to back. Rest finished fillets skin-side up on a rack in a 200°F oven, 6 minutes max before the skin loses its snap. To 12: three pans or three batches, doubled pasta cooked in two salted water pots (one pot takes too long to return to boil), preserved lemon butter held warm in a bain-marie and spooned at the pass.
Dietary swaps: Not GF as written — the fresh tagliatelle uses all-purpose flour. To make it GF: sub 1-to-1 GF fresh tagliatelle (Jovial works) and cook 30 seconds less, the texture goes soft fast. The basil oil, preserved lemon butter, and fish are all GF on their own. To make it dairy-free: swap the butter finish in the sauce for good olive oil (the basil oil carries) and skip the parmesan or use nutritional yeast. The sauce thins slightly, the flavor stays bright. Pescatarian as written.