It’s rare to find a truly great weeknight meal that looks and tastes like it could be served at your next dinner party! This halibut is one such recipe, and it is particularly wonderful during the height of strawberry season (now!) The game plan: Because halibut cooks up so quickly, you’ll simply roast the potatoes and asparagus while you prep the strawberry compote and sear the fish, and you can have dinner on the table in less than an hour.
How to Make a Quick Compote
Chopped sweet strawberries are simmered in red wine, balsamic vinegar and a touch of honey to become an easy, sophisticated condiment for the tender fish. Well•Pict berries were an obvious choice for this recipe because they’re always juicier, sweeter, and fresher than other berries in the supermarket.
Can I Make the Compote Ahead of Time?
Yes, you can make this compote in advance, storing it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. As it sits in the refrigerator, the compote will become a bit less vibrant in color. If you want to keep the vivid pop of red from the strawberries, just make the compote without adding in the second batch of chopped strawberries. Cool and refrigerate it. Before serving your stored compote, warm it on the stove, and then add in the fresh strawberries at that time.
Choosing Your Veggies
The nice thing about this recipe is you can swap up the vegetables based on what’s in season where you live. While we love asparagus and potatoes with the halibut, you could easily roast broccoli, Brussels sprouts or carrots instead. For the potatoes, mixed marble potatoes are nice because they’re small in size and cook quickly. That said, you can easily use fingerling potatoes, or even larger potatoes cut down to a similar size. Just makes sure the potatoes are roughly 1-inch in size, no matter what sort of potato you use.
Roasting Perfect Veggies, Every Time
Roasting vegetables is a great way to use and enjoy your produce year-round. The only trick: some veggies take longer to cook than others, so here we’re staggering the cooking by roasting the potatoes first for 15 minutes before adding the asparagus.
How to Cook Halibut
Halibut is a white, flaky fish that’s pretty simple to prepare. Make sure your pan is super hot when you put the fish filets in to sear so the edges get a nice, caramelized brown exterior. This will result in super flavorful exterior while ensuring the inside of the fish is moist and tender.
1 1/2 pounds mixed marbled potatoes, halved lengthwise 1 pound asparagus, tough ends trimmed away 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided 4 (6-ounce) boneless halibut fillets Salt and ground black pepper
For the compote:
1 cup red wine 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons honey 1 1/2 cups Well•Pict strawberries, coarsely chopped
While the potatoes are roasting, place the asparagus in the same bowl that the potatoes were in and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Generously sprinkle with salt and pepper. After the 15 minutes roast time for the potatoes, remove pan from oven, and push potatoes to one side of the pan with a heatproof spatula. Add the asparagus onto the other side of the baking sheet. Place the pan back in the oven and roast for an additional 12-15 minutes (depending on thickness of stalks), or until asparagus and potatoes are tender. The liquid will still be thin. Add the reserve 3/4 cup of strawberries to the warm compote and set aside. In a large nonstick skillet, warm the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering — you want the pan really hot before adding the halibut. Sear the fish for 3-5 minutes on one side. Then flip and cook for an additional 5 minutes (although this will vary depending on thickness of filet), or until the center of the fish springs back when you touch it. It should also flake easily with a fork.
