Fish Parcels

Sometimes a cosy dinner at home with minimal washing up and pyjamas on is exactly the mood.

These fish parcels are one of my favourite things to make when I want something comforting, fresh and nourishing without spending ages in the kitchen. Everything cooks together in the paper, allowing the vegetables to soften, the fish to stay tender, and all the flavours to mingle into something that feels simple but still special.

I love recipes like this because they are flexible rather than fixed. You can change the vegetables depending on what you have, swap the fish, add prawns, or lean into different flavour combinations entirely.

Mine had rocket, olives, cherry tomatoes and a splash of white wine, which gave it a slightly Mediterranean feel. But the beauty of fish parcels is that they adapt easily to whatever sounds good to you.

Serves

1 parcel

Ingredients

1 fish fillet
(I used trout, but sea bass, salmon, barramundi or white fish all work well)

½ small sweet potato, sliced and parboiled

Small handful rocket

Handful cherry tomatoes

Few pitted Kalamata olives

2–3 stems broccolini

Olive oil

Small knob of butter

Splash of white wine

Squeeze of lemon juice

Salt and black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180–200°C fan forced.

Parboil or microwave the sweet potato until just tender.

Lay out a large sheet of baking paper. Add the sweet potato first, then layer over the rocket, fish, broccolini, cherry tomatoes and olives.

Drizzle with olive oil, add a small knob of butter, splash over the white wine and finish with lemon juice, salt and black pepper.

Wrap the parcel tightly in the baking paper and place onto a tray.

Bake for 20–30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish and how well cooked you like it.

Serve immediately with rice, pasta, salad or grains.

Variations

You can easily change the vegetables depending on what you have available.

Some good additions or swaps:

• spinach instead of rocket
• green beans
• parboiled baby potatoes
• artichokes
• zucchini or courgette ribbons
• fennel
• prawns added alongside the fish

Serving Suggestions

I served mine with rice, but they also work beautifully with pasta, quinoa, couscous or a simple side salad.

A Mindful Moment

There is something calming about meals that ask very little of you.

A few ingredients wrapped together, left alone in the oven, and somehow dinner quietly takes care of itself.

No multiple pans, no complicated timing, no pressure for things to look perfect.

Just warmth, softness, and the feeling of making something nourishing in a way that still leaves space to properly rest afterwards.