TABELIA

AUTHENTIC ITALIAN RECIPE

Red Mullet LivorneseTriglie alla Livornese

Red Mullet Livornese
Difficulty★★☆☆☆ Prep10 min Cook20 min servings2

Fresh red mullet gently cooked in a simple tomato and white-wine sauce, a seafood classic from Livorno on the Tuscan coast.

Recipe developed and reviewed by the Tabelia Editorial TeamUpdated
100/ 100

AUTHENTICITY SCORE

Authenticity Score

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Ingredients (2 servings)

  • Fresh red mullet500 g (4–6 fish)
  • Canned peeled tomatoes300 g
  • Garlic2 cloves
  • Flat-leaf parsley1 bunch
  • Dry white wine80 ml
  • Dried chili1
  • Extra virgin olive oil60 ml
  • Fine wheat flour (type 00)30 g

Method

113 min

Make the tomato sauce

Crush 2 garlic cloves and finely chop the parsley. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil with the garlic and chilli over medium heat. When fragrant, crush in 300g canned tomatoes, add 80ml white wine and simmer for 10 minutes, until lightly thickened.

23 min

Sear the fish

Dust the fish lightly with flour. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a separate pan and sear for 1 minute on each side, until lightly coloured but still undercooked inside.

38 min

Finish in the sauce

Transfer the fish to the tomato sauce. Spoon the sauce over it and simmer gently for 7–8 minutes, until the flesh is just cooked. Avoid moving the fish so it does not break.

42 min

Plate

Carefully transfer the fish to plates, spoon over plenty of sauce and finish with chopped parsley.

About this dish

Red mullet — triglia — is Livorno’s signature fish. This vividly red fish, found on Mediterranean reefs, has been called the “king of fish” since ancient Roman times. Records describe wealthy Romans letting live red mullet swim in front of their guests, savouring how its colour shifted as it died, as a form of entertainment.

Triglie alla Livornese cooks that same fish in a garlic and tomato sauce. There’s nothing complicated about the technique. Only fish whose freshness can be verified goes into this dish.

Livorno grew as a port city where Jewish, Turkish and Greek merchants crossed paths, and within the 17th-century “Livornese cuisine” that reflects that multiculturalism, Triglie alla Livornese is known as one of its defining dishes.

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