Fancy Fast Fish

My sweet friend, Cathy, so generously shared some incredibly gorgeous Alaskan halibut her family caught on a fishing trip. Halibut is my very favorite fish, and the stuff is like gold, people. I did not want to mess this up. It sat in my freezer for several weeks while I contemplated what to do with it, and then I just decided to keep it simple. I whipped up some pesto, slathered it on the fish and roasted it until it flaked with a fork, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and then squeezed a little lemon over the top. And bam. That is some fancy looking---and tasting--fastly prepared fish. Wanna make it even faster? Buy some refrigerated pesto. Pesto is the perfect compliment to most any fish. It's fresh and herby, yet doesn't totally mask the flavor of the fish. This will work with salmon, cod, tuna, snapper, tilapia, halibut...need I go on? My point is this--got some fish in your freezer? Defrost it overnight, schmear it with pesto, and dinner is done.  Impressive looking, impressive tasting, and embarrassingly easy. If that's not a winning combination, I don't know what is.

Malia's Fancy Fast Fish

• 1-2 lbs fish fillets of your choice (defrosted if frozen)
• 1/4-1/2 cup prepared pesto. If you want to make your own, I heartily endorse my recipe
• salt/pepper
• lemon wedges

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Lay fish out on the baking sheet, and spread the tops of the fillets with pesto, season with salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees until fish flakes easily with a fork. The time is going to depend on the type and thickness of the fish. This halibut was incredibly thick, so it took me about 25 min to get it done. If you've got tilapia, by contrast, you're looking at about 10 minutes. Squeeze lemon over the fish and you're good to go.