Roasted Red Snapper with Garlic Sauce
Pan-seared red snapper fillets are served amidst a colorful nest of julienned vegetables and roasted garlic sauce. The garlic sauce would be a hit with almost any seared or panned fish.
Ingredients
- Garlic Sauce
- Virgin olive oil - 1 tablespoon, for frying
- Cloves Garlic - 6, chopped and roasted
- Unsalted Butter - 1/2 cup
- Fresh Parsley - 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Juice of 2 lemons
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Red Snapper
- Red snapper fillets - 2 pounds, scaled, skin on
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Virgin olive oil - 1 tablespoon
- Fresh thyme sprigs - 1
- Vegetables
- Zucchini - 1 cup, julienne
- Yellow Squash - 1 cup, julienne
- Carrots - 1 cup, julienne
- Leeks - 1/2 cup, julienne
- Onion - 1/2 cup, finely sliced
- Fennel - 1/2 cup, finely sliced
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Garnish
- Fresh dill sprigs - 4 small
Instructions
To prepare the garlic sauce: Preheat the oven to 375 F. Place the olive oil and garlic in a medium baking pan and roast garlic until nutty and golden brown in color, about 1 hour. Drain. In a large saute pan over medium high heat, heat butter to very hot, taking care not to burn. Press the roasted garlic from the garlic pods and saute in butter for a few seconds. Remove pan from heat and add lemon juice and parsley, swirling to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve and keep warm.
To prepare the red snapper: Preheat the oven to 375 F. Cut the red snapper fillet into triangular-shaped portions, approximately 4 to 5 ounces each. Season with salt and pepper. In a large ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat, heat olive oil to nearly smoking. Sear fillets in olive oil, about 1 minute per side, until golden brown. Making sure fillets are skin-side down, place the pan in oven for 4 to 5 minutes, depending the thickness of the fillets. (Do not over cook as red snapper will become dry; it should be firm and moist.) Half way through cooking time, add thyme sprig to the pan. Remove from oven and reserve.
To prepare the vegetables: In a large saute pan over medium high heat, melt the unsalted butter. Add the onions, fennel, carrots, and leeks; saute until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes. Add zucchini and yellow squash, continuing to cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve: Place a nest of the grilled vegetables in the center of each serving plate. Add fillets, the sauce each plate. Garnish with fresh dill.
