By Nicole Fuge, MD® Managing Editor
Tomorrow is Good Friday and with this whole iso situation, let’s be honest… Easter has kind of taken a back seat this year. BUT that doesn’t mean you can’t still make the most of your fav traditions and indulge.
Seafood will be on the menu tomorrow, so we wanted to share this quick and easy recipe with you (which you can recreate any night of the week TBH!)
The beauty of a fish parcel is that you can pretty much throw in whatever herbs and flavours you like (or whatever you can get your hands on at the supermarket). What’s even better is when you cook in parcels, the fish retains its moisture and will melt in your mouth – so even if you’re a really sh*tty cook, you can serve up something spesh for your fam-bam.
Makes: Two serves
Prep time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
You will need: Baking paper
// Ingredients
Two medium-size fish fillets, skin off and deboned (salmon or cod are favourites)
2 tablespoons of good-quality olive oil
1 lemon, cut into quarters
4 sprigs of thyme
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
// Method
- Pre-heat the oven to a 180°C.
- Rip two pieces of baking paper off the roll, about 30cm by 30cm. Lay the paper on a flat surface and pour a tablespoon of oil in the centre of each, squeeze a quarter of lemon on each and season with salt and pepper.
- Take one piece of fish at a time and place it in the middle of the baking paper in the oil and lemon, turning over to ensure the fish is well coated on each side.
- Grab two sprigs of thyme and take off the leaves and sprinkle one sprig over each piece of fish. With the remaining sprigs of thyme, place one entire sprig on each piece of fish.
- Now you’re ready to close your parcel. You want to first bring together the sides of paper along the longest length of the fish. Grab the paper so it meets in the middle above the fish and fold it over a few times until there is only a couple of centimetres of length between the fold and the fish. At either end of the paper, make two folds inwards so you have what looks like a triangle – almost like you’re wrapping a present. Then continue to fold the triangle inwards towards the fish until there’s only about one centimetre left and on the last fold really scrunch and press it down and inwards so the paper doesn’t unravel. It’s ok if the centre of the parcel opens up a little – a little opening is fine. If it completely opens, however, just gently fold it back together.
- Pop the two parcels on a baking tray in the middle of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- Serve straight out of the oven with a quarter of lemon.
Note: You can throw in some cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced garlic and olives before closing up the parcels – they cook really well in the juices and oil.
