Grilled Tilapia with Tomatoes, Olives and Greek Wine Pairing

Grilled tilapia is delicious topped with a mixture of fresh tomatoes, olives and basil. No surprise that this Greek inspired recipe is delicious paired with a Greek white wine! Our contribution for today’s Greek Wine Pairing Weekend event. 

I love Greek food, and of course Greek wine is the natural pairing for it. So I was eager to jump into today’s Greek themed Wine Pairing Weekend event host by Cindy from Grape Experiences.

Greek inspired food really is probably a better term for what I make at home. Recipes featuring ingredients like feta cheese, tomatoes and olives conjure up a sense of a sunny Greek island for me–take for instance this Greek lamb stew.

I’m just using my imagination, though, as I haven’t made it to Greece yet!

Today’s recipe, Grilled Tilapia with Tomatoes and Olives, fits into that Greek inspired food category. Specifically, it was inspired initially by the bottle of Greek white wine we picked up for this #winePW event.

Our Greek Wine for Today: Fteri Moschofilero

Greek wine is fairly uncommon here in the Boston area. My go-to local wine shop, Pairings, typically carries a few bottles. That seems to the case other places, too. I was on a hunt for some more wine from Abruzzo the other day, and figured while I was at Bin Ends I’d ask for a suggested Greek wine.

They have a pretty wide variety of wine at Bin Ends but but not a lot in the Greek department. The staffer there did give a thumbs up to the 2016 Fteri Moschofilero ($15, 12% ABV) from Troupis Winery, so I decided to go with that. He suggested fish to go with this white wine, so I had a basic sense of direction.

Today’s event prompted me to do a little background reading on Greek wines to place the bottle I picked out in context. Troupis Winery is in Southern Greece, on the Peloponesse peninsula. The winery is located in the high plains of central Mantinea, part of the Fteri wine region that is included in the name of the wine.

Greek wine regions — map from Wine Folly

Moschofilero is a white wine grape common in the Mantinea region (also spelled Mantineia). We’ll loop back to talk more about the Moschofilero we opened after we get to the grilled tilapia recipe we cooked up to pair with it.

Grilled Tilapia with Tomatoes and Olives

So I was definitely thinking fish to go with the Moschofilero Greek white wine, but what kind of fish? I figured a white fish would make more sense than the meatier salmon or tuna I often feature here. Tilapia is a good white fish for grilling, so I narrowed my focus to it.

I wanted to get some ingredients common to Greek food at work to go with our grilled tilapia. I noted a lot of Greek fish recipes use tomatoes, and August is certainly a good month for tomatoes. I started envisioning grilled tilapia topped with diced fresh tomatoes, combined with some olives and lemon.

The tomato topping for the grilled tilapia needed an herb. Mint is the herb I first associate with Greek food, but the bottle of Moschofilero made mention of basil as an herb that goes with the wine, so I decided to go with that advice.

Moschofilero Paired with Grilled Tilapia

The Troupis Fteri Moschofilero features a bright floral nose. On the palate, pear fruit with notes of vanilla and a bit of salinity. Soft mouthfeel. The fruit was more pronounced on the first few sips, but drinking the wine along with the food also brought forth the acidity, which tends to make for happy pairings.

The grilled tilapia had a lot of fresh summer flavor thanks to the tomato and olive topping. The fish paired well with the fruit forward, refreshing Moschofilero white wine. I definitely give this Greek wine pairing for grilled tilapia a thumbs up!

Consider serving the grilled tilapia with our Greek orzo to stay with the Greek theme!

Recipe card

Grilled Tilapia with Tomatoes and Olives

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Tilapia is a fish that is easy to grill. We top our grilled tilapia with a tasty combination of tomatoes, olives and basil.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 15 mins
• Yield: 2 servings 1x
• Category: main
• Method: grilling
• Cuisine: Greek

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 tilapia filets, about 4 ozs each
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• pinch of salt
• ½ cup tomatoes, diced
• 1 tbsp basil, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 3 olives, sliced

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Instructions

1. Preheat a grill to medium high.
2. Prepare the grilled tilapia topping: combine the tomatoes, basil, lemon juice, olives and half of the olive oil (½ tablespoon) in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Combine  the remaining half tablespoon olive oil and pinch of salt in a large bowl.
4. Rinse and pat dry the tilapia filets. Add the tilapia to the bowl with olive oil, and gently turn over the filets to coat with the oil. Let the fish sit for about 5 minutes.
5. Spray the grill generously with cooking oil. Take a tilapia fillet out of the bowl, gently shake off the excess olive oil and place the fillet on the grill. Repeat for the other fillet.
6. Grill for 3 minutes on one side, then carefully flip the fillets to grill for 3 to 4 minutes on the other side. Use a grill spatula to remove the tilapia from the grill to a platter. The fish should be just cooked through to a white color.
7. Serve the grilled tilapia topped with the tomato basil mixture. Enjoy!

Notes

• The tilapia can have a tendency to stick on the grill if you don’t have enough oil on the grill. Take care when getting the spatula under the tilapia when turning it over. If a bit of the fish sticks to the grill, that is OK. Move the fish to a clean part of the grill, and scrape the bits that stuck to grill off later.

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Greek Wine and Food Pairings from #WinePW

• Lori of Dracaena Wines writes about The Case of the Confused Country.
• David from Cooking Chat suggests Grilled Tilapia with Tomatoes, Olives and Greek Wine Pairing.
• Sarah of Curious Cuisiniere serves Moussaka and a Greek Wine Pairing.
• Jill of L’Occasion writes about the 5 Surprises of Greek Wine
• Lauren of The Swirling Dervish features A Taste of the Peloponnese: Fresh Swordfish and Mercouri Foloi
• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm discovers that Lahano me Kreas Does Double Duty.
• Jane of Always Ravenous serves Souvlaki Paired with Assyrtiko.
• Gwendolyn of Wine Predator says Go Greek with Marathon Wines and Grilled Eggplant with Spiced Yogurt for #WinePW
• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla pairs Garides Saganaki + A Traditional Semi-Sparkling Orange Wine
• Jade of Tasting Pour pairs Lamb Kebabs and Agiorgitiko
• Cindy of Grape Experiences takes on Dinner Tonight: Wine from Crete with Shrimp, Feta, and Tomatoes
• Nicole Ruiz Hudson of Sommstable is Cooking to the Wine: Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko-Athiri with Scallops, Roasted Veggies, and Preserved Lemon Cauliflower Cream

Be sure to check out all the great Wine Pairing Weekend Articles about Greek Wines with food pairings! And join us for a live Twitter chat on the topic, using hashtag #winePW, at 11 a.m. ET and 8 am PT on Saturday, September 8, 2018. You can view past and upcoming Wine Pairing Weekend events here.