Tilapia en Papillote
I wanted to share this recipe with you last week but ended up having some technical difficulties with my laptop (hi, thousands of high-resolution photos eating up my storage space). But as I went to publish the recipe this week, I realized the timing is perfect! Friday is Valentine’s Day, and if you’re anything like me and Brian, you’ll be skipping fancy dinner reservations for a low-key dinner at home. We did this even before kids since we’re not big fans of most of those “special” V-Day menus, but it makes even more sense for us now that we have two littles.
This Tilapia en Papillote is such a great meal for a romantic evening at home—kids or no kids! It requires less than 5 ingredients (not counting salt/pepper/butter), cooks in its own little pouch in a record amount of time, and has very little cleanup. Sliced lemon gives the tilapia a bright, citrusy punch and sweet cherry tomatoes burst in the packet, creating a divine little sauce when it mixes with the garlic butter and thyme. It’s so satisfying served with a little pearled couscous on the side. Even if you rarely cook fish, I’m telling you, it’s insanely hard to mess this meal up. So if you’re spending this love-centric holiday at home, maybe you’ll make it extra special with this fancy feeling dish!
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P.S. Tilapia is a super mild white fish, so even Madeleine loves it. But if there’s a different fish you prefer, go ahead and swap that in!
Tilapia en Papillote
Recipe by Sea Salt + Honey
Serves: 2-3 people
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 9-13 minutes
Ingredients:
Parchment paper
2 tilapia filets (about 1lb-1.5lb)
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp butter, softened
8-10 sprigs thyme
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 lemon, sliced
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°.
Create the parchment packets: cut a piece of parchment large enough to encompass 1 filet, then fold it in half. Using scissors, cut a large half heart shape in the parchment with the fold as the center of the heart (see gallery above for reference!) so when you unfold it, it looks like a full heart. Repeat on a second piece of parchment to create a second packet.
Mash the garlic and the butter together, then set aside. Salt and pepper the fish filets. On a baking sheet, begin making your packets. Lay 2 lemon slices on 1 side of each folded piece of parchment, then top with the fish. Dab the fish with the garlic butter compound (half the butter for each filet), then lay 1 slice lemon on each fish filet. Top with thyme, scatter the tomatoes around, then fold the parchment to close.
To seal the parchment packets, begin at the bottom, creating little folds as you make your way around the packet (see gallery above for reference). Slide the baking sheet into the oven and cook 9-13 minutes, depending on thickness. Fish will be bright white and flaky when ready to serve.
