Baked Halibut with Burst Tomatoes and Gremolata

slowroastedhalibutbursttomatoesgremolata Oh sweet, sweet summer. This time of year, with the busyness of the school year and the produce so wonderful, these are the kinds of dinners I love. This whole entire one pan dinner has six ingredients. Gremolata is one of those fancy-sounding saucy things that I breezed over until I discovered that it is one of the best and simplest ways to bring bright flavour to fish. It takes all of 5 minutes to combine parsley, garlic and lemon in this pretty, fresh condiment that keeps in the fridge for five days or more. Gremolata over halibut filets, with a bed of those gorgeous late summer tomatoes, this is a dinner that feels worthy of guests. In truth, it's a perfect busy weeknight dinner that takes all of 15 minutes to toss together and makes me feel like I totally have it together (even when I don't).

1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley
1 clove garlic
1 lemon
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1½ lbs halibut filets
2 pts cherry tomatoes (I like to use a mix of red and gold)

Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C/130°C fan, Gas Mark 2).

Make gremolata by removing the leaves from the parsley. Finely chop the parsley leaves and garlic (by hand or in a small stand mixer). Squeeze the juice from the lemon over the top and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Place an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Season the halibut generously with salt and pepper. Add the oil to the hot pan and then add the halibut, skin-side up. Cook just long enough to sear the fish. Turn the fish so the skin-side is down, sprinkle the cherry tomatoes around the fish and transfer to the oven.

Bake until the fish is cooked through and the tomatoes are beginning to burst, 20-30 minutes (this will vary depending on the thickness of the fish, but 30 minutes is for a filet that is approximately 2" thick at its thickest part).

Remove from the oven and spread the gremolata over the halibut. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.