I f you are looking to make a quick seafood lunch that looks semi-impressive, this recipe is for you. We wrap halibut in pancetta to keep it moist, pan-sear to crispy up the pancetta and finish it in the oven. Set it on wilted spinach and top with something pseudo-exotic like halibut cheeks or morels or scallops and you have a fancy lunch in 30 minutes tops.

Halibut

Preheat the oven to 400F and heat up some oil over medium-high heat in a cast-iron (or other oven-safe pan). Pick a few 6oz halibut filets and season with a touch of salt. Don’t add too much because the pancetta will add saltiness as well.

Picking Halibut
There are two types of halibut I know about, California, which is leaner and Alaskan which is fattier and thicker

Wrap each piece with 3-4 overlapping pancetta pieces on each side pressing down on all sides. Make sure your pancetta is sliced as thinly as humanly possible to make it easier to stick to the fish. A neat trick you can use here is to mix half a teaspoon of mustard with a tablespoon of water and brush it on the fish. The mustard-water mixture will help the pancetta stick without adding too much heat. Gently lower the wrapped halibut in the pan, oil should start splashing everywhere. Sear each side for about 2 minutes or until the pancetta starts to crisp up. Then move pan to the oven and roast for 5-7 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Halibut is a lean fish so err on the side of underdone.

Halibut Cheeks

Season liberally with salt and pepper. Grill on high heat for 2 minutes on each side or sear with the halibut for 15 seconds on each side and roast in the oven. If you have time, instead of dry heat, sous-vide with some olive oil at 130F for 10 minutes and dust with some fennel pollen (because San Francisco).

Wilted Spinach

Spinach is extremely versatile, I’ve been meaning to provide a template with a few options. The easiest thing to do is to melt 2 tbsp of butter in a saute pan and dump a bunch of baby spinach in. Season liberally with salt and pepper and toss to coat with the butter. Saute on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

Plating

For the extra touch of fancy, warm up the plates in hot water or a 200F oven. Squeeze the water out of the wilted spinach and plate in the middle. Top with the halibut and then with the halibut cheeks. You can drizzle some olive oil if you want and sprinkle some good (=Cyprus) sea-salt on the halibut cheeks.