Pangasius fillet with roasted fennel and potatoes and fresh cilantro yogurt sauce
I love the flavor of fennel, both in seed form and as whole fresh fennel bulb, so I just recently bought some of this springtime favorite at the grocery store. I’ve also started experimenting with eating the stalks and fronds (that many recipes would have you discard or save for soup stock), so I put together a dinner that used the whole thing.
It seemed fennel and whitefish would go quite nicely together, and I found a couple recipes online (linked below) that I used as a guide. I’ve been using pangasius lately (from frozen), for the same reason everyone else is, it’s inexpensive, farm-raised, and tasty.
First, I roughly cut fennel bulb and red potatoes. I also chopped the fennel stalks and fronds, but left them aside, since they don’t need so much time in the oven. I coated a baking pan with olive oil, and tossed the potato and fennel, salt and peppered them, to prepare them for a 425° F oven.
Fennel bulb and red potatoes prepared for oven roasting
Roast the vegetables (uncovered), for perhaps 40 minutes, initially; every 10-15 minutes, toss them so they cook and brown evenly.
While roasting, prepare a yogurt sauce to accompany the fish. I made a sauce from homemade yogurt, chopped cilantro, cumin powder, lime juice, salt, pepper, and a dash of cayenne powder.
When the potatoes are somewhat tender, mix in the chopped fennel stalks and fronds, and continue cooking for perhaps 15 minutes.
Oven roasted fennel and red potatoes
When the potatoes are pretty much done, it’s time to add the fish. Since it’s easy to bake fish in a hot oven as well, I decided to make this a one-pan meal, placing the pangasius fillets atop the partially-roasted vegetables for a final 15-20 minutes of baking. I spread some mashed garlic on the fillets and seasoned them simply with salt and pepper before placing in the oven.
Pangasius fillets baked atop roasted fennel and potatoes
The dish is done when the fish is cooked through and just be flaked slightly with a fork, but not dry.
I served a single fillet atop the yogurt sauce, with the fennel and potatoes on the side, and some lime slices; wedges would have been more convenient for squeezing on the fish.
Whitefish with fennel, potatoes, and cilantro yogurt sauce
This was really nice and you can see I made three servings, so I’m happy to have leftovers for tomorrow – and the next day. :)
Here are some recipes you might like, that I consulted for ideas:
Kitchen Convivial 