Baked Tilapia Scampi

The other day I was craving shrimp scampi.  As most of you who have been following my blog for a while know, I do not cook a lot of shrimp.  Usually it's the fact that if I can't get it really fresh, I don't want it...and to get it really fresh usually cost more than I'm willing to spend at times.  So, you know what this tilapia girl did, don't you?  That's right.. I took all the ingredients for shrimp scampi and threw it on top of my beloved tilapia.  It was delicious!  I think it lacked just a tad bit in the true "scampi" flavor, but it was still good.  Really good!  And if you aren't into tilapia, you can use shrimp or even chicken for that matter!  I tried to keep the use of butter to a minimum in this recipe too.  Usually scampi uses something close to a full stick of butter...so I thought cutting back to make it a bit healthier would be a much better way to go.  Could be why it lacked in the true scampi flavor, but whatever, I'll give a little on the taste to not have it end up directly on my butt!!!

Baked Tilapia Scampi
Printable Recipe 
Ingredients:
juice of half a lemon
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano (I might add a tad bit more if I made this again???)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon Country Bob's Honey Habanero Sauce (optional)
4 tilapia fillets (or any white fish)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Rinse the fish and pat dry; place in prepared baking dish.  Squeeze lemon juice over the fillets.

In a small bowl, mix together the melted butter, garlic cloves, olive oil, and oregano.  In another small bowl, mix together the bread crumbs and the salt and pepper.  Pour 2 tablespoons of the butter mixture over the bread crumb mixture and stir to combine (the bread crumbs will be moist).  Add the honey habanero sauce to the butter mixture if using.  Pour the remaining butter over the fish and then top with the bread crumb mixture.  Place in over and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork and the bread crumbs start to brown.  Carefully remove from oven and enjoy!

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