ROASTED HALIBUT WITH TOMATO AND PESTO

Preparation Time 30 minutes – Serves 2

The other night for dinner, my wife made the great suggestion that we have fish; always a smart move after overindulging on the weekend. She also suggested that since we had recently made a new batch of Pesto Sauce from our crop of freshly grown basil, I do something with that and, maybe, use one of the luscious late-summer tomatoes we’d just obtained at the local Farmers’ Market.

With practically all of the ingredients predetermined for me, all I had to do was decide on how to prepare it and select the right fish for that method. Roasting seemed like a good idea, very little mess and no standing over a hot stove, so a thick piece of firm, white, fish would be best, either Halibut or Swordfish, depending upon what our local fishmonger had to offer that day. He had both, I chose the Halibut, which was about 1 inch thick. Next time I’ll try Swordfish!

High heat roasting (for 1 inch thick fillet @450 degrees between 15 & 20 minutes) might tend to dry out the fish, but a little white wine should keep it moist, and coupled with the liquid given off by the fish and other ingredients, should produce a tasty sauce of pan juices. Which it in fact did. So here it is, Roasted Halibut with Tomatoes and Basil. We hope that you enjoy it as much as we did!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. Halibut Fillet
4 tbsp. Uncle Fred’s Homemade Pesto
1 ripe tomato, sliced thin
1/3 cup dry white wine

PROCEDURE:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Line a small shallow roasting pan with aluminum foil and place the fish in the pan.
3. Evenly spread the Pesto on fish.
4. Cover the Pesto with approximately 6 or 7 tomato slices, overlapping them to fit.
5. Place the roasting pan on the top rack of the oven and roast for 10 minutes.
6. Add the wine and continue roasting for 10 more minutes.
7. Slice the Halibut in two, and serve with pan juices.