Mmmm. This was the best fish that I’ve made in quite some time. And it was so easy! I had a busy shopping night last night, so it was nice to have something that I could whip together so quickly. The swordfish is sauteed, topped with pesto mixed with fresh lemon juice, and then sprinkled with toasted pine nuts. The light and fresh flavor of the lemon goes so well with both the fish and the pesto, and I love the really hearty flavor and texture of the swordfish in this meal. If you haven’t had swordfish before, it has a surprising heartiness, more like a steak than a fish. This was really a delicious main course – Giada’s recipes never disappoint :)

Lemon Pesto Swordfish
Source: Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis

I had some prepared pesto in the freezer, so rather than making Giada’s citrus pesto as listed in the recipe, I simply thawed 3 tablespoons of my pesto and added some lemon juice. Here’s the recipe as I made it.

2 swordfish steaks
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
3 tablespoons pesto
Juice from 1/2 small lemon
1/8 cup pine nuts

1.  Heat a good drizzle of olive oil in a saute pan, enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the swordfish steaks with salt and pepper, and saute the fish for 4-5 minutes on each side.

2. While the fish is cooking, pour the pine nuts in a small sauce pan, and heat them over medium heat. Cook until the pine nuts are lightly toasted and browned, approximately 5 minutes.

3. Mix the lemon juice into the pesto.

5. Plate the swordfish. Top each steak with some of the lemon pesto, and sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts.