Giada De Laurentiis’ Mediterranean Halibut Sandwiches

Credit: Catherine Roscoe Barr

Ciabatta bread, peppery arugula, fresh halibut, sundried tomatoes, zesty lemon and fresh herbs make this one heck of a sandwich

These warm halibut sandwiches from Giada De Laurentiis’ new cookbook are incredibly tasty, quite easy to make, and feature sustainable, seasonal fish approved by Sea Choice

I got Giada De Laurentiis’ new cookbook, Weeknights With Giada, from the library and this is the first recipe I’ve tried. It was fantastic, I really hope you’ll try it! 

Part of my decision to make this recipe first was the fact that halibut is in season and Urban Fare had sustainable Sea Choice halibut on sale.

I did a few things differently from what the recipe called for. I served the halibut hot, whereas the original recipe suggests setting the fish aside to cool. It also calls for skinless halibut, but it’s easy to pick the fish up off the skin once it’s cooked so I didn’t bother skinning it first or paying more to have it skinned at the store.

The original recipe also called for removing some of the dough from the top half of the bread and brushing the cut sides of the bread with olive oil and rubbing them with garlic.

I skipped putting oil on the bread as ciabatta is already pretty greasy to start with and I added raw, minced garlic to the mayo mixture rather than just rubbing it on the bread – I want all of that delicious, nutritious garlic in my sandwich!

My dog knows every store in my neighbourhood that gives out dog treats and pulls to the nearest treat-giving store whenever we’re out for a walk.

Swirl Wine Store Yaletown, which sells only BC VQA wines, is one store I’m more than happy to be pulled to.

The staff are so nice and always have great suggestions for wine pairings when I tell them what I’m making for dinner. Trying new wines is fun – especially when you discover good ones.  

This La Petite Paille 2010 Sauv Blanc from Little Straw Vineyards in West Kelowna was really nice and I loved the label (a must for a bottle to make it into my shopping cart).

A quick look at the website reveals this wine was a Bronze medal winner at the 2012 NorthWest Wine Summit.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• 1 loaf ciabatta bread, quartered
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/3 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp capers, drained and mashed
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 packed cups arugula

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Place halibut on greased baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.
3. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until fish is cooked through and flakes easily when cut with fork.
4. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine garlic, mayo, sundried tomatoes, basil, parsley, capers and lemon zest, stirring well to combine.
5. Remove skin from halibut, flake with fork and combine with mayo mixture.
6. Under broiler, very lightly toast ciabatta “buns”.
7. To make sandwiches, place 1/4 of halibut mixture on bottom of each ciabatta “bun” and top with 1/4 of arugula.