Chinook Salmon
By Cat, Sept 2015 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)
See also: 1. Fish & Seafood Menu; 2. Salmon (About); Other sites: Fine Cooking’s One-Pan Dinner Recipe Ideas (2)
It was the pistachios that first attracted me to this recipe. But when I realized is is so quick and easy to make, I just had to add it to my recipe blog. I’ve not yet tested this, but plan to later this week, using the last of the season’s wild-caught salmon.
Roasted Salmon & Fennel with Pistachio Gremolata
Fennel bulbs
This recipe is adapted from Fine Cooking (1); the original serves 4, but I’ve adapted the recipe to serve 2. This is assembled on a baking sheet, then roasted in your oven, and is surprisingly quick and simple to make.
For those not familiar with fennel, it is a leafy vegetable with edible stalks that form a bulb shape just above the ground. Its leaves are fine and feathery. Both stalks and leaves, as well as its seeds, have a licorice-like flavor, and are a common ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine. (Photo, left, from Wikimedia Commons)
Pistachios in shells
Pistachios (photo, right, cropped from Wikimedia Commons) are a small nut in a shell that is easy to open once the nut is ripe. When I was a kid, they were roasted, salted and dyed red or green (using synthetic dies) and sold in small packets, similar to peanuts, as a snack. Without the chemical dyes, they are a healthful and tasty snack.
Ingredients & Equipment:
- Salmon:
- 1 medium fennel bulb (about 12 – 14 oz)
- ¼ medium red onion
- 1 – 2 Tbs. olive oil
- Unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Two 6-oz. skinless salmon fillets
- Gremolata:
- fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped to make ¼ cup, packed
- ¼ cup salted shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
- finely grated lemon zest of ½ large lemon
- 1 – 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- Flaky sea salt (optional, for garnish
- Equipment:
- Large, rimmed baking sheet
- Parchment
- Small bowl
Method
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F.
- Line baking sheet with parchment.
- Prep: Cut the fennel where the white bulb separates into green stems (save the green stems and leaves for another use, like homemade soup). Trim and core the white bulb, then cut vertically into ½ wedges.
- Trim the red onion, then cut of a quarter section and then slice that thinly.
- Toss the fennel and onion with the olive oil and a big pinch each of salt and pepper on the parchment-covered pan. Spread the vegetables evenly and roast until tender and browned at the edges, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Roast the salmon: Push the vegetables into a pile to make a bed for the salmon. Place the fillets on top of the vegetables, spaced evenly apart, and season with salt and pepper. Roast until the salmon is just cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Gremolata: While salmon is roasting, chop the parsley coarsely, enough to pack a ¼ cup measure. Shell and chop the pistachios coarsely. Grate zest of 1/2 lemon; mince garlic finely.
- Combine parsley, pistachios, zest and garlic in bowl.
- Serve: Arrange the roasted veggies on serving platter or 2 dinner plates; top with the roasted salmon. Sprinkle the gremolata over all and add a sprinkling of flakey sea salt.
References:
- Fine Cooking: finecooking.com/recipes/roasted-salmon-fennel-gremolata.aspx
- Fine Cooking: One-Pan Dinner Recipe Ideas
