Crusted Sea Bass with Shrimp & Roasted Tomato Butter Sauce

1 pint ripe grape tomatoes
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 sea bass fillets, weighing approximately 6 ounces each
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon butter
1 ½ pounds large uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup dry white wine
6 ounces fresh spinach leaves, torn into strips
Juice of 2 lemons, approximately ¼ cup
4 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place tomatoes in a shallow baking pan; sprinkle with minced garlic.
Drizzle tomatoes and garlic with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Roast tomatoes in preheated 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Season sea bass fillets with salt and pepper.
Stir chili powder and cumin into 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Brush one side of sea bass fillets with chili powder mixture.
Heat butter and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
Place sea bass fillets seasoned side down in the skillet; cook for four minutes.
Turn sea bass fillets over and cook for an additional four minutes.
Remove sea bass fillets to a platter and keep warm.

Stir shrimp into the pan and season with salt and pepper; cook until just opaque, approximately five minutes. Do not overcooked!
Remove shrimp to a bowl.

Stir wine into the pan.
Stir in spinach and lemon juice; cook until just reduced, approximately five minutes.
Stir in roasted tomatoes and shrimp; reduce heat to low, add butter, and stir until melted.

To serve, place a sea bass fillet in the center of a dinner plate. Spoon tomato and shrimp mixture around sea bass fillets. Drizzle with sauce over spinach leaves and over sea bass fillets.

Serves 6
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes

My notes:

This is easily divided in half.

I've used both sea bass and tilapia. I suspect orange roughy would also be good.

The spinach was overcooked, so I’d wait to add it to the pan at the very end (once the butter has melted). I didn't bother with the spinach the second time I made the recipe and it was just as tasty. I also didn't bother roasting the tomatoes. I simply cut them in half and sautéed them in the butter along with the shrimp.

This is not my original recipe, but I can't seem to locate the cookbook or magazine in which I found it.