How To Make Halibut With Roasted Paprika Sauce

Halibut with Roasted Paprika Sauce is a moist and succulent piece of halibut served with a sauce made from fresh red paprika peppers. We grow paprika peppers in our greenhouse but our pepper guy also sells them at the Farmers Market. Fresh paprika peppers are mostly sweet with just a little heat near the top of the pepper. You can make this sauce with other sweet red peppers, such as sweet red italian peppers and then add a little smoked paprika powder for heat.

This recipe is naturally gluten free.

Watch a Video

Here is a video of 2 Cooks in the Kitchen making Halibut With Roasted Paprika Sauce.

Paprika Peppers

We have grown paprika peppers in our greenhouse for the last couple years and it’s mostly so we can make this sauce. We love the sweet flavor of the peppers with just the right amount of heat. This year they grew in some wild shapes.

We don’t see fresh paprika peppers in the stores but our chile guy sells them at the Farmers’ Market so you might be able to find them locally. You’ll need several for this sauce. The paprika peppers are such a beautiful vibrant red color which carries into our sauce.

Roast the Peppers

We will start by roasting the peppers. We like to do this on the grill but you can use your oven broiler for this job. You will want to get the skins charred all over so you can peel them. When they are done we will put them in a pot with a lid to steam while they cool.

Remove the Peels and Seeds

Once the peppers are cool enough to handle we need to remove the stems, peels and seeds. You don’t have to worry about keeping the peppers whole since we will just be blending them up. When they are seeded we stack them on a plate with enough of a lip to catch the juices.

Put the Peppers In the Food Processor

Then we are going to put our peppers in the bowl of a food processor. We want to pour all the good juice right in along with the peppers since that has some paprika flavor.

Add Garlic

We will add the garlic to the food processor and then blitz that to get the garlic chopped up a little. We don’t have to get it perfectly smooth at this point since there is more processing to do.

Add Almonds

Once the peppers and garlic are chopped up a little bit we will add the almonds and then process this for a while to get the almonds fairly well chopped up. You will want to give this a little time so the almonds get into the sauce. We like the flavor of almonds with the paprika peppers but you can use any kind of nuts you like. It’s fun to try different things and play with the flavors. You might try peanuts or cashews.

Emulsify the Oil

Next we need to emulsify the oil. We do this by turning on the food processor and pouring the oil in slowly while it is running. Emulsification is the process that combines the oil and water molecules and makes this into a creamy sauce. If your food processor doesn’t have an opening that allows you to pour the oil in while it is running, you can add the oil and then turn it on. It will take a little longer to get creamy but it should work fine.

Add Lemon Juice and Salt

Now we want to add our lemon juice. You can just use a juice squeezer and squeeze it right into the food processor. Fresh lemon juice like this is the best. Then we will add a little salt. We usually measure salt by eye and hand so this is about 1/2 teaspoon.

Blitz Until Smooth

Now we’ll give this a quick blitz just to mix that in and our roasted paprika sauce will be all ready to cook. You should have a nice creamy sauce at this point.

Pat the Fish Dry

Next we will get our fish ready for the pan. First we’ll want to pat it dry with a towel, removing any extra moisture that might be on the outside of it.

Sprinkle With Salt and Pepper

Next we sprinkle salt and pepper over the halibut then turn it over and sprinkle salt and pepper over the other side.

Heat the Sauce

Now we need to heat up our sauce. Put some oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot we will tip in the contents of the food processor. Turn the heat down and let the roasted paprika sauce warm on low heat while you cook the fish.

Cook the Fish

Now we can cook the fish. We will pour some butter into a frying pan over medium heat. We’ll add some thin slices of lemon to the butter.

Put Lemon Slices On Top

After the butter gets hot we’ll put the fish in the pan. Lay the fish away from you so you don’t splash hot butter on yourself. Put the rest of your lemon slices on top of the fish.

Cook For 2 Minutes and Turn For 1 To 2 Minutes More

Cook the first side for 2 minutes and then turn the fish over. We really don’t want to overcook this fish so you only want to cook the second side for one to two minutes. You get a beautifully moist flaky fish if you cook it right and it can be very dry if overcooked.

Plate the Sauce

Now we are ready to plate. We like to serve this with rice but you could also use potatoes or quinoa. Put some roasted paprika sauce down on the plate with your side.

Add the Fish

Then place the fish on the sauce.

Add a little more sauce on top and then garnish and serve your dish. You can find uses for any extra sauce you might end up with. We like it on omelets or as a side on broccoli. You can use your imagination.

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You can also try our Grilled Halibut With Ancho Tamarind Sauce recipe.

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