Recipe25 minutes · serves 2 · Moderate

Pan-Roasted Halibut with Brown Butter

Thick Pacific halibut, golden on the outside and just set through, spooned with nutty brown butter and capers.

Buy the fish for this recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 halibut fillets, about 200 g each, 3 cm thick
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil
  • 60 g unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp capers, drained
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Chopped parsley, salt and pepper

Method

  1. 01

    Pat the halibut dry and season both sides. Heat the oven to 200°C.

  2. 02

    Sear in a hot oven-safe pan for 3 minutes until a deep crust forms, then flip.

  3. 03

    Transfer the pan to the oven for 4–6 minutes. Halibut is done at 52°C in the centre — it goes chalky above 57°C.

  4. 04

    Lift the fish out and rest it. Put the pan back on medium heat with the butter and swirl until it smells like hazelnuts.

  5. 05

    Off the heat, add the capers, lemon and parsley, and spoon the sauce over the fish.

From the counter: Halibut is lean. Pull it early — carry-over heat finishes the job while it rests.

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