French Marinara Sauce

French Marinara Sauce for fish

This sauce is not widely known.  I was taught it by a sauciér from Seattle in the early 1980s.
It is quick and easy and different! Very good on sautéed fish and good on chicken also.

Ingredients:
Eight tomatoes the size of plums, peeled and seeded
OR one cup (250 ml) of diced canned tomatoes
(please see About Tomatoes)
One garlic clove, pressed
One tablespoon (15 ml) butter
Twelve Kalamata olives, pitted and halved, or (better) a similar volume of Nicoise olives
Two teaspoons (10 ml) capers, rinsed
One tablespoon (15 ml) fresh basil, chopped
Fresh tarragon
I use three or four sprigs, each three to four inches (7 to 10 cm) long, stripping the leaves
from the stems and discarding the stems.   The leaves may be left whole.

Salt and black pepper to taste.  Go light with the pepper - you want to make
the sauce a bit more interesting but not mask the other seasonings.

Method:
Nothing could be simpler! If you are using fresh tomatoes, peel them (here is an easy method)
then cut them into half inch dice.   Melt the butter in a ten inch skillet over medium heat, add
garlic and sautée until just beginning to brown, add olives, then tomatoes, then all other ingre-
dients.  Cook on high heat for a couple of minutes, turn heat down for a very slow simmer to
keep the sauce warm while finishing the fish it will go on.  Cod (not salt cod) is a good choice.
Tilapia will do.  Halibut would be very good.   Here is the sauce over breaded fried cod.