Skate with Tomato, Saffron, Garlic and Sultanas

This one came out of the Rick Stein "Mediterranean Escapes" cookbook, which has produced some winners in the past. A few cool things about this one: it cost £3 for two pieces of skate to serve two people. I had everything else on hand. It tasted GREAT. The interesting thing about it (to me) was the use of sultanas (or raisins) in the tomato sauce. It really worked nicely; they were a little hit of sweetness as you ate it, and were a nice contrast against the spice of the sauce and the saltiness of the capers. Also, it was EASY. Gotta love the easy things to make that yield a huge payoff... this is one of them!


450 g skate, 2 skinned and trimmed wings
100 milliliters olive oil
6 garlic, finely chopped
400 g chopped tomatoes, canned
30 g raisins, or sultanas
¼ teaspoon saffron, a pinch
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, a pinch
2 bay leaf
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon capers, rinsed and drained

For the sauce, put the olive oil and the garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the garlic starts to sizzle, add the tomatoes, raisins, saffron, chili flakes, sultanas (or raisins), sugar, bay leaves and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer and leave to cook for 30 minutes, stirring every now and then, and breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Remove the bay leaves, season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm.

Bring 1.5L (6 cups) of water to the boil in a large, shallow pan. Add one tablespoon of salt and the skate wings and leave them to simmer gently for 10 minutes until cooked.

Lift the skate wings out of the water onto a board and cut each on into 2 or 3 pieces. Spoon slightly more than half the tomato sauce onto the base of a warmed oval serving dish and place the skate pieces on top. Spoon the rest of the sauce down the center of the skate, scatter with capers and serve.