Matcha and Pistachio Crusted Fish

I get quite a few food magazines, and even though sometimes it's kind of overwhelming I really do try to cook out of each of them at least once every month. Occasionally Adam will pick up a Fine Cooking or Food & Wine off the coffee table and mention that something looks good, and the man has a good eye. So when he perked up over this recipe in October's Bon Appetit, I put it on the list of "things I want to cook, eventually". I really shouldn't have waited so long. Delicious, easy, fast - what more could you ask for?



Matcha & Pistachio Crusted Fish
serves 4

The recipe calls for halibut, but I used cod, because it looked better than the halibut when i went to buy fish. Any white fish would work, but the portions I ended up with were quite thick, so the cooking time was way more than the recipe said. Whatever fish you end up with, just make sure you cook it until it's just opaque in the center. Oh, and I found matcha pretty easily at my local Japanese market

1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1 1/2 teaspoons matcha (green tea powder)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
4 5-ounce skinless filets of halibut, cod, or other white fish
salt and pepper
lemon wedges for serving (optional)

If you bought pistachios that are already roasted and salted, skip this step. If you bought raw pistachios, heat the oven to 400 and spread the pistachios out on a baking sheet; toast for 3 minutes or until just browned in spots. Let cool. Even if you're not roasting the pistachios, heat the oven to 400.

Combine the pistachios, sugar and matcha in a food processor (a mini chopper thingy or the processor attachment to an immersion blender is perfect for this) and process until the pistachios are roughly chopped. Add the breadcrumbs, butter and lemon zest and process again, but not too long! You don't want it to be too pasty. Taste the topping and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and lemon if necessary (I used roasted, salted pistachios so it was plenty salty and I only needed to add a little pepper).

Line the sheet pan with parchment and butter the parchment. Season both sides of the fish filets with salt and pepper, then top each filet with 1/4 of the pistachio mixture. Bake for 8-10 minutes for thin filets or 16-20 minutes for thicker pieces. No matter the thickness of your fish, bake until opaque and set in the center. Serve with lemon wedges, if you like.