I'm constantly in search of different ways to bake tilapia, a mild, lean, relatively inexpensive fish. This particular recipe requires only 3 ingredients. It's similar to a dish I make with chicken, and it's especially good using tilapia. The fish also cooks more quickly than chicken, if you're in a hurry and need a fast dinner. The tilapia bakes up moist, crunchy on top, and full of basil and Parmesan flavor from the pesto. You need only about five minutes to prepare the fish, and it bakes in less than 20 minutes. Fast flavor!
Crunchy Baked Pesto Tilapia -- Serves 2
12 ounces of tilapia (2 filets)
2-3 tablespoons of prepared pesto
1/4 - 1/2 cup of seasoned Panko bread crumbs
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spritz a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray (or line the sheet with foil and spritz the foil, for easier cleanup). Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Using a sharp knife, cut the filets in half down the middle where you see the dark line running down the middle of the fish. Place the filets on the prepared baking sheet and spread some of the pesto evenly over the top of each piece of fish, so that the entire top of the fish is covered with a thin layer of the pesto. Sprinkle on the bread crumbs, covering the pesto. Spritz the crumbs with a little non-stick cooking spray. Bake the fish about 15 minutes or until it's opaque in the middle and flakes easily with a fork.
