baked lemon tilapia

The last couple of months have been a complete whirlwind! I finished up my senior year at CCS, graduated, and found myself with even less time then when school was in session. I barely have had time to think about making dinner - other than tacos or spaghetti - but I was inspired by this recipe this weekend while watching Sunny Anderson on Food Network. How can you go wrong with lemon and butter with fish? 

The original recipe called for lemon sole, but tilapia makes a wonderful substitute. I also used romano instead of parm because that's what I had on hand. Only one more change to the recipe, I promise! She served hers over sauteed swiss chard, but I had Freddy make our lemony sauteed spinach. I'll post that recipe at a later date when I get back into the posting game.

The result of my first trip back in the kitchen? Yum! This was super easy to make and full of flavor. I think it's one of those recipes that seems like a whole lot more work than it was! I'll be saving this recipe for dinner guests.

Source: Sunny Anderson via foodnetwork.com

Baked Lemon Tilapia
Serves four

Bread Crumb Mixture Ingredients
4 slices fresh white bread, crusts discarded and bread quartered
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup walnut halves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (I used romano)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Ingredients for Tilapia
4 lemon tilapia fillets, rinsed and patted dry (or lemon sole)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons butter, plus extra for casserole
1/4 cup lemon juice 3 tablespoons capers 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a food processor combine bread, lemon zest, walnuts and cheese. Pulse until almost uniform in texture. Continue pulsing while drizzling in the olive oil. Set aside.

Season fish with salt and pepper. Place 4 fillets in a single layer on a buttered 9 by 12-inch casserole. In a small saucepan melt 4 tablespoons of butter and add the lemon juice and capers. Pour butter mixture over fish, and sprinkle tops with bread crumb mixture. Bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes.