Roasted red snapper with fava bean and spring onion purée

Sometimes, you need to get re-energized to cook, not just the everyday meals you and others eat, but to cook something creative (and blog-worthy! speaking about myself here).

There is no better place to do that than the farmer’s market, in my opinion. We are in the midst of a most excellent time for spring produce, and I happened to pick up some fava beans at the market.

I love cooking fish “en papillote” or a parchment envelope – it’s easy, virtually foolproof and the little parchment envelope seals in all the flavors beautifully.

This is a simple seasonal dish that takes no time at all to make and helps keep you dinners fresh and colorful.

Roasted red snapper with fava bean and spring onion puree 

Tips: Fava beans cook fairly quickly, so keep an eye on them. If once you fold down your papillote/paper “packet” it doesn’t stay tightly closed all the way, weigh it down with the leftover lemons that you used for lemon juice! They will plump up a bit in the oven and, as a bonus, will be nice and fragrant.

You’ll need:

(serves 3)

• 3 fillets red snapper
• about 2 lbs fava beans
• 1 large lemon [use 1/4 sliced thinly for cooking the fish and the other 3/4 for juice for the fish (1/4) & puree (1/2)]
• 6 small spring onions (both whites and greens)
• olive oil
• salt, pepper
• parchment paper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the fava beans for about 8 minutes. Drain – reserving about 1/3 cup of the water for the puree – and let cool slightly before shelling.

2. Roughly chop the whites and greens of 2 small spring onions. Combine onions, fava beans, cooking liquid, a drizzle of olive oil, the juice of half a lemon, and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth, taste for seasoning. Add more liquid, if necessary, but I would keep the consistently such that you can still “shmear” it on the plate with the fish.

3. Preheat oven to 365F. In a large piece of parchment paper, layer fish fillets with lemon slices and 4 whole spring onions. Season with salt and pepper, juice of about a quarter of a lemon, and a drizzle of good olive oil. Wrap up and close the “packet” and roast for about 25 minutes.

4. To serve, place fish on top of puree with some lemon and roasted onions.