Pandeli’s Sea Bass en Papillote
Photo courtesy of the Audrey Hepburn Estate Collection
From Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week: Audrey at Home by Luca Dotti
Pandeli’s Sea Bass en Papillote
Serves 4
20 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
A few sprigs each fresh parsley and basil leaves, finely chopped
4 potatoes, boiled, peeled, and sliced into ½-inch rounds
8 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sea bass fillets, approximately 2¼ pounds (1 kg) total
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 425ºF (220ºC).
Mix the cherry tomatoes with the shallot, parsley, and basil. You will need 8 sheets of aluminum foil. Set out 4 sheets. On each sheet, prepare a bed with potato slices and the thyme sprigs; lay a sea bass fillet on the potatoes and thyme; and then top each fillet with salt, pepper, and the chopped tomato mixture. Enclose each “packet” with the second sheet, being careful to seal each well so that no sauce escapes, but leaving room above the fish so it won’t cling to the foil.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Carefully open the packets directly at the table when you serve the fish.
Variation
Pandeli prepares fillets, but sea bass in parchment, like other white fish with firm flesh, can also be prepared whole. In this case, you can stuff the fish with a combination of chopped olives, capers, garlic, and some herbs that have been moistened with olive oil and white wine. Bake at 400ºF (200ºC) for at least 30 minutes.
Reprinted with permission from Audrey at Home: Memories of My Mother’s Kitchen by Luca Dotti (Harper Design).
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