Chef Laura Slama's summer recipe encourages us to eat "locally" - as tilpaia farming is big here in Arizona. This recipe is from our new cookbook: Sweet Basil Cooks A Second Helping.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. orzo pasta, cooked according to package directions

extra-virgin olive oil

2 lbs. tilapia

sea salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 c. dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio

½ c. finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, more to taste

4 c. grape tomatoes, halved, or cherry tomatoes, quartered

3/4 c. pitted and chopped Kalamata olives

1/4 c. drained capers

6 cloves garlic, minced

PREPARATION - Salad

>Keep the orzo warm while preparing the fish. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom.

>Dust the fish fillets with sea salt and pepper. Add the fillets, without crowding, to the pan and sauté until barely opaque in the center, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer fish to a platter (keep it warm) and repeat with remaining fillets.

>Deglaze the pan with the white wine and reduce au sec (until all the liquid has evaporated and the solids are beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan).

>Add parsley and crushed red pepper to the same pan; sauté for 1 minute.

>Add tomatoes, olives, and garlic and sauté until tomatoes are soft and juicy, about 2 minutes.

>Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Return fish to the pan and simmer gently for 2 minutes.

>Serve the fish over a bed of orzo and spoon the sauce over the fish.

.