Halibut en Papillote with Lemon and White Wine

This has to be the easiest way to cook fish - it's wrapped up in a package, making its own sauce and doesn't smell up your kitchen. Easy AND tidy - you have to love that!

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Halibut en papillote ready to assemble. Halibut en papillote - one assembled and one ready to fold. Halibut en papillote on a dinner plate with green beans.

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Halibut en Papillote with Lemon and White Wine

  • Prep Time: 10 m
  • Cook Time: 12 m
  • Total Time: 22 m
  • Servings:
    2

Ingredients

  • 2 fillets halibut about 6 ounces each
  • salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • Β½ lemon sliced
  • 4 fresh thyme sprigs
  • 1 egg white lightly beaten
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • ΒΌ cup white wine

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 400˚ F.
  2. Cut out 2 large squares of parchment paper – about 13-inches by 15-inches each. Place a fillet of halibut on one half of each piece of paper. Season the fish very well with salt and pepper. Top each fillet with lemon slices and thyme sprigs. Brush the outer rim of the parchment squares with the beaten egg white. Dot each fillet with 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of white wine on each piece of fish.

  3. Fold up each parchment square by folding one half of the paper over onto the other half and press together. Make a series of straight folds on the outer rim of the squares to seal the edge together.
  4. Place the two packages onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes or, cook in the air fryer for 10 minutes each. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may have to cook them one package at a time. The package should be puffed up and slightly browned when fully cooked. The fish should feel firm to the touch (you can often, carefully, press on the fish through the paper).

  5. You can serve these simply with the parchment paper already cut open to reveal the insides, have your guests cut open the packages at the table, or remove the parchment completely, transferring the tasty insides to a plate.
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Comments (24)Post a Reply

  1. Just bought thick haddock and will try this. If you don’t have wine what could you substitute? Love your easy and quick dishes

    1. Hi Carol. I think a splash of orange juice would be delicious with this, especially if you substituted orange slices for the lemon slices. If you wanted to stick with the lemon flavor, try a little chicken stock instead.

  2. 5 stars
    I made this recipe with cod using broccoli and green onions, salt, pepper , white wine and lemon slices and a small amount of butter. Wrapped in parchment and put in the air fryer at 400 for 12 minutes. It was delicious!

    1. Hi Joanne. Yes, you can include garlic, but my suggestion would be to smash a clove and put that in the packet. Remove it before serving or warn your guests. That will scent the food with garlic. Adding raw chopped garlic is a little troublesome because it won’t have time to really cook in the packet.

    1. You could include garlic if you love the flavor of garlic, but it won’t have a chance to really be cooked. I might suggest smashing a clove of garlic and putting that in the packet. That will give the aroma and scent of garlic and people can choose not to eat the whole clove.

  3. Can I cook this recipe in an AirFryer – my oven takes to long heat up and uses to much electricity. Have your cookbook “Air Fry Everything”.

    1. You sure can! Build the papillote the same way and then pop it into your air fryer at 400ΒΊF for about 10 to 12 minutes (depending on how thick the fish is).

  4. 5 stars
    Delicious and easy! I learned this technique in culinary school but haven’t done it in a long time. The egg white trick for sealing is new to me and I love it. We soaked up the wine/butter with our halibut, which was moist and delicious. 12 minutes at 375F was perfection! Thanks for reminding me how much I love cooking like this.

  5. 5 stars
    I made this last night with a beautiful piece of Halibut. I served it with roasted whole carrots and steamed Kale with toasted tamari sunflower seeds – 5 star!!! Because I roasted the carrots at the same time, I upped my oven temp to 425 and it was perfect. A keeper recipe for sure, thank you!

    Although after watching a documentary called SEASPIRACY, moving forward I am not as interested in buying commercially caught fish and will wait and try it with fish I catch myself.

  6. Why do you need for squares of parchment paper if the recipe is two servings, using two filets? Shouldn’t it be two pieces of parchment paper? What am I missing?

    Thanks
    A

  7. 5 stars
    Hi. Just made this fabulous recipe with a little twist. Didnt have fresh thyme sprigs so sprinkled lightly some herbs de Provence. DELICIOUS! Halibut stayed moist and juicy and what a presentation! Will make this again for company as you can prepare packets ahead and keep them in your fridge. Spend more time with your friends πŸ˜πŸ˜πŸ’–πŸ’–πŸ·πŸ·

  8. Can you make 8 papillotes and cook them on two baking sheets on two racks in a conventional/regular oven at the same time?

    1. You can cook them on two baking sheets, just switch the pans halfway through the cooking time to ensure even cooking on the top and bottom.

    1. Yes you can use cook haddock in parchment paper. Just use longer pieces of parchment to fit the size of the fish.

  9. 5 stars
    My first time cooking in parchment paper. Simple and delicious! The halibut was moist and subtly flavoured with lemon. Big return for little effort

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