Baked Halibut on a Bed of Peppers

The vegetables do the heavy lifting here. Red and yellow bell peppers get slivered with onion and cooked in olive oil for a full 25 minutes, deglazing with balsamic vinegar halfway through and finishing with herbes de Provence. By the time the halibut goes on top, you’ve built a deeply savory, jammy base that perfumes the fish as it bakes.

Herbes de Provence is the aromatic backbone of this dish. That blend of dried thyme, rosemary, lavender, and summer savory is why this seafood dish smells like the south of France rather than a Tuesday night fish dinner. If you can’t find it at the store, combine equal parts of each dried herb and keep the jar handy.

The fish goes in for just 20 minutes on top of the pepper bed. The 1-inch thick halibut steaks hold up to this treatment well. Thinner fillets would overcook before the vegetables had a chance to release their steam into the fish.

Serve immediately. Halibut tightens up quickly once it comes out of the oven.

Kitchen Tips

• Don’t rush the pepper base: The 25-minute cook time on the peppers is what creates a jammy, concentrated base instead of watery vegetables under the fish.
• One-inch halibut steaks are specified for a reason: Thinner cuts will be overcooked after 20 minutes. Ask your fishmonger for steaks, not fillets.
• Balsamic at the midpoint: Adding vinegar at 10 minutes lets it cook down and sweeten before the herbes go in.
• Serve right away: Halibut loses its silky texture within minutes of coming out of the oven.

Variations

• Add olives: A handful of pitted Kalamata olives stirred into the pepper base before baking brings a briny, Mediterranean edge.
• Swap the fish: Thick cod or sea bass steaks work beautifully on this pepper base with the same timing.