I had a few leftover tilapia filets in my freezer and was looking for a way to use them in a non-boring way (as I mentioned on my parmesean-crusted tilapia post, I typically find tilapia pretty bland). This lovely recipe from Cooked from the Heart for pastry-wrapped tilapia came to the rescue. Excuse my messy wrapping, I didn’t have as much puff pastry on hand as I thought

Pastry Wrapped Tilapia

Tilapia has grown in popularity as of late because it has virtually no fat or cals and is cheap and sustainable. Aside from some butter used to sauté onions, which could easily be replaced with olive oil, this recipe doesn’t add much to the low-fat nature of the fish (except for the puff pastry of course…). Poaching the fish keeps it moist and the simple filling is tasty and hearty.

Recipe after the jump:

The only changes I made to the recipe were subs for things I had on hand: chopped almonds for pecans in the filling and sesame seeds for poppy seeds to top the puff pastry. Rolling the filled tilapia filets was a little tricky, but taking care not to put too much filling can help remedy that. I had to remind myself that they didn’t have to be pretty–they were about to go inside a pastry pocket anyway!

Pastry Wrapped Tilapia
Recipe here

STUFFING MIXTURE:
1 lb. of mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Saute’ mushrooms, garlic, and onions in butter until mushrooms are slightly browned and all juices have evaporated. Stir in pecans and set aside to cool.

POACH TILAPIA FILLETS:
4 Tilapia fillets
salt & pepper
6 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Season the fish with salt & pepper. Place about 1 tablespoon of the stuffing mix on top of the fish and roll up. Secure the roll with a toothpick so it doesn’t unroll during cooking. Place rolled fillets in an oven-safe dish with 6 tablespoons of milk and cover. Poach for 10 minutes in the oven.

ASSEMBLE PACKETS:
Stuffing mixture, left over
Poached Tilapia
2 green onions cut into inch lengths
2 sheets of frozen puff pastry (thawed)
1 egg, beaten
poppy seeds

After poaching, drain the fish rolls and place on one end of a halved pastry sheet. Place green onion slices on top of fish and divide the remaining stuffing mix between four servings, arranging the stuffing around the rolled fish fillets. Fold over the other end of the pastry sheet to cover the fish holls and seal the sides shut by pressing the pastry between your fingers. Brush the top of pastry packs with the beaten egg mixture to create a sheen and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Repeat until you have all the fish rolles encased in pastry. Place the packets on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.