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Monday, June 18, 2012

Pesce al Cartoccio (Fish Fillets Cooked in Parchment)


Pesce ala Cartoccio or Fish Baked in a Bag can be done with a whole fish like I did HERE on a previous post or using fish fillets.This is probably my favorite way to cook and eat fish especially when I have fresh unfrozen fish fillets but this recipe is also perfect for frozen fillets. The fish actually steams in the cartoccio creating a very moist and perfectly flaky fish fillet!I like to buy a large pack of fresh fish at Costco and bake half of them this way then I freeze the rest and either batter & fry or make a fish stew with them at a later time.
~Already for baking it's so pretty~
Ingredients
fish fillets (fresh or frozen/defrosted)
lemon
garlic
1 whole piece of parsley, rosemary, or your favorite herb
salt
olive oil
parchment or foil
Directions
Preheat oven to 400
~All ready to open up our little gifts from the sea~
For each fish fillet cut a large square of  parchment or foil.
slice the lemon into very very thin whole slices.
cut the garlic clove into very very thin slices.
Now splash on some oil and salt the square of parchment.
Lay the fish fillet in the middle of the parchment /foil.
Splash on oil and salt on to the fish.
Lay 1 single slice of garlic, then whole or chopped herb, and lastly a lemon slice on top.
Now fold the parchment up and seal using folds  (See how here)
Place on a baking sheet (you don't want to stack them ) and bake for for about 12-15: check the fish by opening up one cartoccio and peaking. When fish is done, the flesh should be just barely opaque – not translucent, but also not chalky. The flesh will be firm, but moist. If you take a fork to pull the flesh of the fish apart, it should just barely flake apart. If it flakes too easily, and seems somewhat dry, the fish is already overcooked. Mine took 15 minutes exactly but start checking after 12 minutes.

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