You can cook the fish in individual packages or toss it all
together in a covered casserole. But the individual portions
are lovely. And you can assemble the packages well
in advance and refrigerate them, which makes this an
excellent dish for entertaining.
You can use parchment paper if you like, though it’s a
little more difficult to seal
Four 6-ounce thick fish fillets or steaks
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or basil leaves
Lemon wedges for serving
How to make
Fish Baked in Foil
Put a baking pan in the oven and heat it to 400 F.
Take 4 sheets of aluminum foil (or parchment), each
about 18 inches long, and put one piece on top of the
other (you will make 4 packages). Rub a piece of fish
with some of the olive oil, then season it with salt and
pepper and center it on a piece of the foil. Sprinkle with
garlic and parsley and fold the foil over the fish, crimping
the edges as tightly as possible. (To be sure there’s
no leakage, use double thickness to wrap fillets if you
like.) Repeat the process. (You can refrigerate the pack ages until you’re ready to cook, no more than 6 hours
later.)
Put the packages in the baking pan and bake for
about 15 minutes (or about 8 minutes from the time it
starts sizzling). Let sit for a couple of minutes before carefully
cutting open the package—remove the fish with a
spatula, pour the juices over all, and serve with lemon
wedges.
Fish Baked in Foil with Vegetables.
Add any or all of the
following to each package: 1 seeded and diced plum
tomato; a few black olives; some capers; some very
thinly sliced potato, lemon, fennel, or onion.