2 teaspoons of paprika
1 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley (or dried parsley flakes)
Between 2-4 tilapia fillets (about a pound’s worth)
You can bake or pan fry the fillets once they are coated in the crust. If baking, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the Parmesan, paprika, and parsley in a bowl and lightly salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle the fish with your oil of choice (I like olive oil) and coat them with the cheese mix. Bake on a baking sheet for about 10-12 minutes or until fish is totally white and flaky through the thickest section of the fillet. If pan frying, lightly coat your frying pan with oil (you DEFINITELY don’t want to deep fry the fish, but you don’t want it to stick to the pan) and flip and fry it until it is cooked through the center and the crust is golden brown.
For the sauce, you will need:
A half pint of heavy cream
2 cloves of garlic (or a tablespoon of minced garlic)
½ cup of olive oil
1 ½ cups of fresh basil leaves
½ cup of walnuts
¾ cup Parmesan cheese
You can buy gnocchi at most groceries, but if you can’t find it, tortellini (or any pasta for that matter) would work just fine as a replacement.
If you buy a package of gnocchi, you cook it just as the package instructs, and it takes roughly 4 minutes, so you might save it for last. Otherwise, you could start your pasta after mixing all of your ingredients for your pesto.
Start your pesto mix with a food processor of some sort (even a blender will work), and combine your oil, garlic, basil leaves, and walnuts. Blend them until they are all finely blended together, then stir in your Parmesan.
On the stove, bring your heavy cream to a slight boil (you don’t want to scorch it!), then add in your pesto mix and let it all simmer together. Salt and pepper to taste, if you like. After your gnocchi is cooked, drain it, and then combine with your cream sauce, and pair it with the tilapia for a nice, Parmesan-themed dish. Any leftover cream sauce is great for bread dipping if you choose to have some kind of bread on the side.
More about Kristen:
“Give me cats, a camera, good music, and room to play outdoors, preferably with a view of the mountains, and I’m a happy girl.”
Wonderful recipe! Kristen is one talented woman!
Yes, she is. I look forward to trying this recipe.