Halibut Puttanesca
Description
Thank you to Paul and Pam for making this for us!! Borrowed from Bobby Flay, it looks complicated but you can prep everything ahead and the steps are also flexible. I’ve simplified things a titch and I also had Brock on the charcoal grill working his magic – enjoy!
Ingredients
Puttanesca Relish
2 T. red wine vinegar AND 2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 t. EACH anchovy paste AND olive oil
1 t.+ chopped fresh oregano
1/2 t. EACH kosher salt AND freshly ground pepper
1/2 c. pitted kalamata olives (about 16) AND 1 T. drained capers, all roughly chopped
1/4 c. EACH torn fresh basil leaves AND roughly chopped parsley
Grilled Vegetables (to add to the relish)
avocado oil spray + salt and pepper
3 ripe large tomatoes AND 1 medium onion, both cut into thick slices
1 jalapeño, whole
Halibut + Basil Oil
1/2 c. good olive oil
1/2 c. (7 g) fresh basil + extra sprigs for garnish
1/2 t. EACH kosher salt AND freshly ground pepper
4 halibut fillets, about 1/2 lb/8 oz each – we were using the charcoal grill so ours were skin on
Instructions
Prep first! Start with the halibut – quick rinse, pat dry, sprinkle all with salt and pepper, place on a plate back in the fridge until you’re ready to grill.
Using a mini processor, whiz together the olive oil, 1/2 cup of basil, salt and pepper and keep whizzing until smooth. Scrape this into 2 measuring cups – half directly for cooking the halibut and half for drizzling on afterwards.
For the relish – whisk together the first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl, set this aside and prep the rest. Start the charcoal grill (you could also do the vegetables on the regular barbecue if you wanted to have the relish all ready ahead, and then start up the charcoal grill when you’re ready for the halibut).
Place the tomato and onion slices on a baking sheet with the jalapeno and give all a light spray with the avocado oil. Generously sprinkle all of the vegetables with salt and pepper and then grill and flip as needed until all have a healthy char. Use the same baking sheet to leave them to cool until you can dice them all (everything but the jalapeno stem), then add the chopped veg into the relish bowl along with the olives, capers, basil and parsley and give this a stir. Set this aside, room temperature is best and it will be fine on your counter for a couple of hours if necessary.
When you’re ready to grill the halibut (in our case the potatoes had been parboiled and were in the oven roasting), prep your (charcoal) grill to medium high heat. While it’s heating, take out the halibut and brush all with the basil oil. Brock placed the halibut flesh side down for a quick couple of minutes and then carefully flipped each fillet to finish cooking skin side down. Regularly brush with basil oil and watch the fish carefully! Our fillets took only a few minutes (after flipping to skin side down), and you want an internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees.
Remove the halibut to a pretty platter and immediately drizzle with the remaining basil oil. Serve with a healthy slathering of the puttanesca relish and fresh bread or roasted potatoes. Amazing meal!
