Cooking “Cartoccio” style, or “in a bag” is a great way to prepare fish. Sealing the juicy fillets in foil or baking paper with herbs and other aromatics means the fish steams and cooks in all the juicy goodness.
The flathead fillets were looking nice and fresh at the fish markets this weekend so here is what I came up with.
Serves 1 (Just multiply the recipe by the number of people you are feeding)
What you’ll need
2 medium sized flathead fillets (skinless and boneless) about 250-300 grams all up
½ lemon, sliced
4-6 cherry tomatoes, halved (depending on size and how much you love tomato)
20g good quality butter
75ml white wine, whatever you are drinking
A few leaves of fresh flat leaf parsley
A good length of quality aluminium foil
Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper
How to put it together
1. First, preheat your oven to 200C
2. To make the foil bag measure out a length of foil long enough to hold your fillets and other ingredients with a good border (5-7cm) around each side, then quadruple the length.
3. Fold the foil in half lengthwise to double the thickness, the fold it in half again and re-open. One half is the bottom, one half is the top.
4. Fold up the sides of the base of your foil to make a protective wall, we don’t want all the liquid and ingredients dribbling out.
5. Drizzle a little olive oil over the base of the foil and place 3 or 4 slices of fresh lemon on top
6. Place your flathead fillets on top of the lemon slices and pour over the white wine
7. Cube up your butter and place dots of it all over the fish
8. Strategically place the cherry tomatoes around your fish and sprinkle with some fresh parsley leaves.
9. Give everything a good season with salt and pepper
10. Now, fold the top half of the foil over the fish and fold the edges over to create a nice tight seal.
11. Place on a baking tray and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it rest on the counter for 4-5 minutes.
12. Place the foil bag on a plate, cut the top open with scissors and eat direct from the bag
Serve with some roasted kipfler potatoes and steamed greens.
