If you like fish, you'll agree with me that one of the most delicious ways to prepare it is en papillote. All its flavor is concentrated, since it is cooked in its own juices, and the aroma when you open it is almost from another dimension. So, as you might guess, this cod papillote recipe with zucchini is very simple and quick to prepare, with a result as delicious as it is healthy.
This recipe, like so many others prepared en papillote, is a clear example that often less is more. Because this technique has no secrets, doesn't require long cooking times, and the result is simply exquisite.
In culinary jargon, cooking a food wrapped or "in a package" is known as doing it en papillote. Certainly, it sounds charming in French, but the flavor is just as delicious no matter what language it's cooked in. Essentially, it's about wrapping the food to be cooked in paper (baking paper, for example), forming a package that must be well sealed; this way the steam doesn't escape while cooking and it steams in its own juices.
To make the technique perfect and much easier, while also avoiding paper waste, the Emile Henry "papillote" ceramic dish will be our ideal helper. A piece completely free of toxic materials, which is also reusable again and again (also as a roasting tray, which we would use without the lid).
Ready? Let's start with the recipe!
Ingredients for 4 people
- 2 cod loins (approximately 1.2 kg in total)
- 2 large zucchinis
- 2 bunches of spring onions
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 lemon cut into slices
- 10 cl hazelnut oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- A few sprigs of fresh thyme
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 210 °C.
- Wash the cod loins and pat them dry with a little kitchen paper.
- Wash the zucchinis and cut them into slices about 3-4 mm thick. You can use a mandoline, so the slices will cook evenly since they are the same thickness.
- Trim the root end of the spring onions and remove the first layer. Cut off the tops of the stalks and wash them. Cut the spring onions lengthwise, from top to bottom.
- Place the zucchini slices and the cut spring onions in the Emile Henry "papillote" ceramic dish, forming a bed. Reserve some slices and some spring onion strips to place on top of the fish.
- Arrange the 2 cod loins on the bed formed by the zucchini and onion, side by side. Once placed, drizzle them with the lemon juice and hazelnut oil.
- Place the remaining vegetables and lemon slices over the cod loins in an attractive arrangement.
- Strip the thyme with your fingers or using an herb stripper and sprinkle it over the fish and vegetables. Add the salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Cover the ceramic dish and put it in the oven for about 25-30 minutes, without uncovering at any time.
- After that time, carefully remove the dish from the oven to avoid burning yourself and check that the cod loins are cooked by gently separating the flesh in the center with the tip of a knife.
- Serve directly in the Emile Henry "papillote" ceramic dish.
Notes
- To give the recipe a different twist, you can add some pickled capers, a few pink peppercorns lightly crushed in a mortar and some sprigs of fresh thyme.
- You can vary the flavors and aromas of this recipe by changing the vegetables (use fennel, peppers, tomatoes, ...) or the type of oil (olive, pistachio, toasted sesame ...).
- You can also make this same recipe with any other white fish. With hake, for example, it is exquisite.
