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Home » Recipes » Fish and Seafood

Fish In Crazy Water

August 5, 2015 Updated October 12, 2022 by Lisa Goldfinger 15 Comments This post may contain affiliate links

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cast iron skillet filled with white fish fillets surrounded by chopped carrots and cherry tomatoes and broth and sprigs of parsley

Fish In Crazy Water is a classic Neapolitan dish of fresh fish poached with vegetables and water. A wonderfully simple, healthy and delicious recipe that yields tender fish and vegetables in sweet flavorful broth.

 

In Italy they call it Pesce All'Acqua Pazza. I discovered this amazing Neapolitan poached fish dish while traveling in southern Italy. It has since become a regular favorite in our weeknight dinner rotation.

I promised I would share some of the great recipes I learned on my Italian cooking vacation, so here we go!

wooden cutting board with empty pint container and a pile of quartered cherry tomatoes

HOW TO COOK FISH IN CRAZY WATER

  • The recipe for fish in crazy water is stunningly simple. The beauty of this dish is in the delicate sweet and savory flavors of the fresh ingredients.
  • Use the best ripe cherry tomatoes you can find to flavor the broth.
  • Use white fish fillets - your favorite or whatever is fresh. I've had great success with snapper, halibut and sea bass. I've listed a few other types of fish that will work well in this recipe.
  • The only other ingredients you'll need is olive oil, garlic, carrots, celery, onions, parsley and, of course, water. I like cutting the carrots and celery into matchsticks but chopping them is fine, too. Whatever suits you.

matchstick cut carrots, celery and onions in a bowl, ready for cooking fish in crazy water

Everything cooks in one pot. I like to use my large cast iron skillet.

First sauté the garlic, carrots, celery and onions in a little olive oil, to soften them. 

Tuck the fish fillets down into the veggies and add the water.

Cast iron skillet with matchstick cut carrots and celery, chopped onions, sliced cherry tomatoes, raw fish and water

Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes or so, to gently poach the fish and vegetables and to infuse the water with all the wonderful flavors of the fish and vegetables. 

Cast iron skillet filled with fish, sliced vegetables, tomatoes and water. Garnished with parsley.

Take off the lid and dinner is ready!

I love the freshness and simplicity of this dish, tender fish and vegetables in a sweet fresh broth.

If you're like me, you'll be dazzled by the simplicity and deliciousness of this wonderful recipe.

White bowl filled with poached fish and vegetables

And it's so healthy!

Close up of a bowl and a spoon with fish, carrots, celery and tomatoes and broth

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Here's the recipe for Fish In Crazy Water. If you try this recipe I hope you'll come back to leave a rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think.

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Recipe

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Fish in crazy water is a classic Neopolitan dish of fresh fish, poached with carrots, celery, onions and tomatoes. The fish is tender, the veggies are crisp-tender, the broth is sweet and delicious, and dinner is on the table in just 30 minutes.

Fish In Crazy Water


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 6 reviews

  • Author: Panning The Globe
  • Total Time: 30 mins
  • Yield: 4 1x
Print Recipe

Description

Quick, easy, healthy recipe for fish poached with fresh vegetables and tomatoes.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • For this recipe you'll need a large skillet with a lid
  • 1 ½ pounds fresh fish fillets, such as snapper, sea bass, Branzino or Orata, cut into 4 portions.
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large garlic clove, slightly smashed and peeled (see how to smash garlic here)
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (1 ½ cups)
  • 3 celery stalks, washed, ends trimmed, cut into matchsticks or chopped (1 ½ cups)
  • 2 or 3 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks or chopped (1 ½ cups
  • 1 pint of ripe cherry tomatoes, washed and cut into quarters (10-11 ounces)
  • ¼ cup chopped parsley leaves
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat for a minute or so, until the garlic starts to sizzle a bit. Add the carrots, celery and onions. Sauté, stirring, for 2 minutes or so, until the vegetables start to soften (regulate the heat so they don't brown)
  2. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook, stirring, for a minute or so, to heat the tomatoes. Add the fish, tucking it down into the vegetables. Add ¼ teaspoon salt and 1 ½ cups water. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Cover and cook over medium low heat (gentle simmer) for 10 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through and the vegetables are softened. Stir in half the parsley.
  3. Divide fish, veggies and broth among 4 shallow bowls. Season with black pepper, to taste. Serve right away, while hot, with additional chopped parsley sprinkled on top.
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Category: Lunch or Dinner
  • Method: stove top
  • Cuisine: Italian

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this recipe, please let me know how it turns out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on instagram with the hashtag #panningtheglobe

 

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Filed Under: All Recipes, Dinner, Europe, Fish and Seafood, Italian Recipes, Lunch and Brunch, Quick and Easy, Soup, Stew Tagged With: dairy-free, easy weeknight dinner, gluten-free, paleo

Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

  1. Kelly

    January 22, 2025 at 11:30 am

    Could you substitute water for vegetable broth or chicken broth for more flavor?

    Reply
    • Lisa Goldfinger

      January 22, 2025 at 11:50 am

      Hey Kelly - sure you can. But if you try it with water, you might be surprised by the lovely flavors. That's the whole idea of this dish: "crazy water," and it really is crazy how good it is. I find that store-brought broth doesn't add much flavor to dishes other than saltiness. Whatever you end up doing, I hope you enjoy this dish!

      Reply
  2. David

    July 13, 2022 at 10:51 am

    Yum! Made this last night with Striped Bass (and a small side of Linguini Aglio Olio which was not 100% necessary). The dish was amazing. It's always surprising to me when a very simple dish with few ingredients (and that is so easy to make) can be so good.

    Reply
  3. Nancy J.

    April 29, 2019 at 1:17 pm

    My sister turn me on to this fish. She makes it with snapper and I am addicted!! I am making it tomorrow for a birthday dinner. It's incredible!!

    Reply
    • Lisa

      April 29, 2019 at 4:03 pm

      I'm so glad to hear it Nancy! Hope the Birthday dinner is fabulous!!

      Reply
  4. Dominique Ranieri

    January 29, 2019 at 4:06 pm

    So easy and SO good.

    Reply
  5. Alex G

    January 28, 2019 at 11:06 am

    This is a seriously good recipe!

    Reply
  6. nina mayer

    December 20, 2015 at 8:30 pm

    Loved it!! Made it tonight--delicious and very easy.

    Reply
    • Lisa

      December 21, 2015 at 7:45 am

      I'm so glad you enjoyed Nina!

      Reply
  7. allie @ Through Her Looking Glass

    September 23, 2015 at 9:42 pm

    Dear Lisa, What a beautiful one skillet meal! Love the colors and simplicity. I didn't grow up eating fish as my mom never cared for seafood, but I think even I could make this! Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  8. Carol at Wild Goose Mama

    August 11, 2015 at 6:56 pm

    Wow this looks delicious. The colors are glorious!! And such a guilt free meal. What treat to look forward with lusty relish to a dish without feeling guilty. I could get use to that!

    Reply
  9. Maureen | Orgasmic Chef

    August 06, 2015 at 8:29 pm

    That's the funniest recipe name and when I saw it, I had to know more. It sounds so easy and something the whole family would enjoy.

    Reply
  10. Rachel (Rachel's Kitchen NZ)

    August 05, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    Oh, love Fish in Crazy Water - love your version with all those veg - Liz - roll on tomato season.

    Reply
  11. jen

    August 05, 2015 at 11:28 am

    I'm making this TONIGHT! Thank you!

    Reply
  12. Allison

    August 05, 2015 at 10:52 am

    I don't cook a lot of fish, but this looks easy enough! Gorgeous photos!

    Reply

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