Baked fish with pesto and feta crust
Baked fish is one of my favourite ultra-quick and easy weeknight meals. Add in some flavour with pesto and feta and the whole family will love it!
Ingredients
- 4 thick fillets salmon or white fish approximately 200g each
- 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato pesto
- 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs about 3 slices bread, whizzed in blender or food processor
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 100 g creamy feta
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a shallow baking dish or tray with baking paper.
- Arrange fish fillets on tray, allowing space around each.
- Remove stray pin bones with tweezers (pull in the direction of the bone).
- Spread each fillet with a layer of sun-dried tomato pesto.
- Combine fresh breadcrumbs, garlic and olive oil in a bowl. Crumble over feta and mix well.
- Pat a generous layer of feta crumble over each of the fillets.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, until the topping is golden and the fish starts to flake at the thickest part when pierced with the tip of a knife.
- Serve with a green salad and baby new potatoes.
Tip:
- You can change out the sun-dried tomato pesto for basil and pine nut pesto, or try using chutney or a kasundi-style relish.
Notes
Cooking fish in the oven is easy. It helps to retain moisture and, if you use baking paper, you have a nice quick clean-up. Use thick fillets for this recipe, such as salmon or hapuku, so the fish doesn’t overcook while you are waiting for the feta crust to cook and colour. You could make this baked fish with a whole side of salmon for a dinner party, it would look beautiful in the centre of the table scattered with basil or parsley.