Sounds fancy, huh? Really it is a simple French cooking method and means “in paper”. Tonight is a salmon with spinach version but this method works for any fish and the accompaniments can vary too. The cool part of this cooking method is how the fish steams with and absorbs the flavor of the ingredients in the paper. Plus using the paper makes the clean up easy peasy! Here are the ingredients:
1 Prep the salmon. The fillets should be skinned and deboned. You can request this if ordering from the seafood counter. Dry with a paper towel then salt and pepper both sides. Preheat the oven to 350.
2 Make the salad. Chop a large shallot in to small pieces. Add it to a bowl with 2 large handfuls of spinach. This is based on 2 fillets and each packet will receive a little over a cup of salad. Spinach will wilt to half of it’s size while cooking. Grate a tbsp. of lemon zest from the lemon avoiding the white pith when grating. Cut the lemon and squeeze it’s juice in to the bowl. Add a tbsp of olive oil and finely chopped garlic to the bowl. Mix it together.
3 Ready for paper packets. You will need a big enough piece of parchment paper to wrap each fillet separate. We are creating individual packet servings. In the middle of the paper, pile the spinach salad.
4 Add the salmon to the packet. Place the fillet in the center of the paper on top of the salad. Top with lemon slices.
5 Bake the packets. Fold the sides of the paper in and roll the top down to make a packet. If it acts like it wants to unroll in the oven, add a toothpick to hold it closed. It is important the packets are enclosed to hold the steam inside the packet and circulate.
5 Almost dinner time! Place the packets in a 350 oven for 15 minutes. Cooking times will vary according to fillet size, but 15 minutes seems to be the happy point for fish. Once you pull the packets out of the oven, use a spatula to remove the whole fillet with spinach to serving plate. Roll up and toss the paper. Done!
We really love the way the lemon, shallots and spinach infuse the fillet. It is incredible!! By the way, this is pretty healthy so guilt free too. Win win!
