This turned out so good! I want to cook all my fish this way forever! I made major changes to the following recipe but I think this is a good recipe as is. I just didn’t have these things and used what I had on hand. The main thing to remember is how to cut the parchment, how to fold it and bake at 450 degrees for 8 minutes until the pouch is puffed and bubbling inside.
INGREDIENTS
Parchment paper
4 sole fillets (6 ounces each) – (I used 3 frozen and thawed Trader Joe’s swai fillets)
1 tablespoon plus 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, 2 thinly sliced, 1 halved (I used about 10 roasted whole cloves)
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (didn’t use)
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved (didn’t use)
2 tablespoons capers, drained (didn’t use)
8 large, pitted kalamata olives, quartered (didn’t use)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 teaspoons dry white wine
4 teaspoons unsalted butter
8 fresh thyme sprigs (didn’t use)
4 slices (1/2-inch thick) ciabatta bread (served with toasted naan bread instead)
2 large shallots sliced
3 large marinated bell peppers sliced
1 Tbs basil pesto
PREPARATION
Heat oven to 450°F. Fold four 15-inch-square pieces of parchment in half. Starting at fold of each piece, draw half a large heart shape. Cut along lines; open. Place 1 fish fillet next to crease on each piece of parchment. In a small skillet, warm 1 tbsp oil over medium heat. Sauté sliced garlic (I sautéed the garlic, shallots and peppers in lieu of their mixture)and pepper flakes until garlic turns golden, 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat; stir in tomatoes, capers and olives. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Divide tomato mixture among fish. Top each fillet with 2 teaspoon wine, 1 teaspoon butter and (topped with 1 tsp basil pesto) 2 thyme sprigs. Fold other half of parchment over fish. Starting at top of each parchment half-heart, make small, tight, overlapping folds along outside edge to seal packet; twist tail ends tightly to seal completely. Place packets on a large rimmed baking sheet; roast 8 minutes. Broil or toast ciabatta until golden; rub with garlic clove halves and brush with remaining 4 teaspoon oil. Transfer packets to plates. Slit tops with a knife; gently open. Serve 1 slice ciabatta with each packet.
These are the things I had on hand.
This is my shallot, garlic, pepper mixture.
This is the swai fillet salted and peppered. Swai is a relatively unknown fish that taste delicious, non fishy and sweet – and is crazy cheap! Doesn’t make sense.
Here is the fish topped with the sautéed veggies, butter, pesto and 2 tsp of wine.
All wrapped up! So fun!
How it looks once it is baked. A little bit browned and juices bubbling.
Cut open the present! Smells so good!
I served with naan bread which was great to soak up the juices! I bought 2 more bags of this fish the last time of was at Trader Joe’s it was so good. I might do a Fish Veracruz version next time.