Baked Halibut With Fennel and Walnut (Printable Version)

Tender halibut baked with fennel and topped with crunchy lemon-walnut pangrattato. Ready in just 30 minutes.

# What You Need:

→ Fish & Vegetables

01 - 4 halibut fillets (about 6 oz each), skinless
02 - 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
03 - 1 lemon, zested and juiced
04 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
05 - Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

→ Pangrattato

06 - 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs from rustic bread
07 - 1.5 cups walnuts, finely chopped
08 - 1 garlic clove, finely minced
09 - 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
10 - 2 tablespoons olive oil

# How To Make It:

01 - Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a baking dish large enough to accommodate the fish fillets in a single layer.
02 - Distribute sliced fennel evenly across the baking dish. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and half the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
03 - Arrange halibut fillets over the fennel layer. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with half the lemon zest.
04 - Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic and breadcrumbs, stirring constantly until golden and crisp, approximately 3 minutes. Add walnuts and toast for 1 minute. Remove from heat and fold in parsley and remaining lemon zest.
05 - Crown each halibut fillet with the walnut pangrattato mixture, pressing gently to secure.
06 - Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until fish becomes opaque and flakes easily with a fork and topping reaches golden color.
07 - Transfer to serving plates immediately. Garnish with additional parsley or fennel fronds if desired.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It looks and tastes like something you'd order at a wine bar, but the actual work is almost laughably simple.
  • The walnut pangrattato adds a nutty crunch that makes every bite feel complete and textured in a way plain fish never does.
  • Fennel becomes sweet and tender in the oven, soaking up lemon and olive oil while perfuming the whole dish.
  • You can have this on the table in thirty minutes, which means weeknight elegance is not a fantasy.
02 -
  • If your breadcrumbs are browning too fast in the skillet, lower the heat immediately, burnt pangrattato tastes bitter and ruins the whole topping.
  • Don't skip seasoning the fennel layer, it needs its own salt and pepper or it will taste flat underneath all that flavorful fish.
  • Let the fish come to room temperature for about 10 minutes before baking so it cooks more evenly and stays tender in the center.
03 -
  • Toast the walnuts just until fragrant, they'll continue cooking slightly in the oven and can turn bitter if overdone in the skillet.
  • Use a microplane for the lemon zest to get fine, aromatic shreds that distribute evenly without any bitter white pith.
  • If your fennel bulb is very large, save the fronds for garnish and use only the firm bulb itself, sliced as thin as you can manage.
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