This fish dish is packed with flavor and brightness. It is one I especially love in the spring and summer, when these ingredients are in season. It covers your protein, healthy fats and carbohydrates in one tasty packet!
Here’s What You’ll Need:
Making the Recipe:
If you are not using already prepared pesto, start by making your own. My vegan pesto is delicious with this dish.
Pat dry the cod and cut into 4 ounce pieces. Try to make them fairly even in size so they cook at the same rate in the oven.
Next, slice the tomatoes and asparagus. Remove the woody ends of the asparagus and cut the cherry tomatoes in half.
You are now ready to assemble the cod in parchment paper with the pesto and vegetables.
Lay 3 pieces of baking twine under a sheet of parchment for each piece of fish. One piece of twine should be in the middle and the other two on each end (see the photo below).
Place the cod on top of the parchment.
Start by spreading pesto over the top of the cod. Top it with a few cherry tomatoes and layer the asparagus on the sides.
You are now ready to tie up the cod in parchment. This is the trickiest part. Start by bringing the longest sides of parchment together. Fold them over a few times until they are tight to the fish and secure with the center piece of twine.
Next, you’ll need to tie up both of the two ends.
Repeat this process for each piece of fish and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.
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Baked Cod with Pesto & Asparagus
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This fish dish is packed with flavor and brightness. It is one I especially love in spring and summer, when these ingredients are fresh in season. It covers your protein, healthy fats and carbohydrates in one tasty packet!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb. cod (wild caught), cut into 4 pieces
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup pesto (recipe below, if you don’t already have some made and on hand):
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1/3 cup pine nutes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 2 cups asparagus, ends trimmed (about 6 spears per serving)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
- Place each piece of fish on its own piece of parchment paper
- Season the fish on both sides with sea salt and black pepper
- Make the pesto, if not using a prepared pesto. Put all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until all ingredients are chopped well.
- Top each piece of fish with 1 Tbsp. of pesto
- Wash the asparagus and trim off the bottom ends (about 3 inches). They tend to be tough. Cut the top portions of each stalk in half. Wash and halve the cherry tomatoes.
- Place the asparagus around the sides of the fish and the cherry tomatoes on the top of the fish.
- Wrap up the parchment around the fish and tie with the twine to hold it together. Start with the long ends of the parchment. Bring the two sides of parchment together and fold over multiple times until secure to the fish. Tie up the middle section of the fish first with the cooking twine. Next, secure each of the ends.
- Place the fish packets on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
Notes
Use haricots verts (French green beans) in place of the asparagus
Omit the cherry tomatoes, if you are avoiding nightshades
You can use aluminum foil instead of the parchment to cook the fish
The fish can be cooked on the grill instead of the oven, if using foil