Recipe for oven-baked salmon
Baked salmon with pesto, pine nuts, butter, and herbs. Wow, that’s all I can say.
After being fortunate enough to learn about filleting various fish from a chef, I ended up with a ton of fish and a lot of good advice from him.
One of his tips was to bake a salmon fillet in the oven, and his secret was to use either mustard or pesto on top. Here, I chose pesto, and the taste was absolutely amazing.
One of the reasons I usually prefer to cook my salmon sous vide is because I really dislike dry and “well-done” fish. The chef I spoke with also said that salmon is at its best when it has just a slight temperature increase in the center, transitioning from raw to slightly cooked. He was right, and from now on, this will definitely be one of my go-to dishes whenever I have salmon.
Aside from being delicious, the salmon is also incredibly quick to make. You can have it ready in less than 30 minutes. However, I served hasselback potatoes with it, and they certainly couldn’t be made in under 30 minutes.
I would always boil new Danish potatoes with this dish if it were a summer meal.
As I was looking for a crispy element for the dish, I served these chicharron (pork rinds) with it, as I also got the tip that pork and fish pair well together.
It wasn’t necessary, though, as the pine nuts actually provided the crunch I was hoping for.
Oven-baked salmon
Equipment
- Oven
- Cutting Board
- Chef'S Knife
- Bowl
- Grater
- Baking Tray
- Baking Paper
- Frying Pan
Ingredients
Baked salmon
- 500 gram Salmon Fillet
- Coarse salt
- 0.5 pcs. Lime both juice and zest, can be substituted with 1/3 lemon
- 45 gram Butter soft
- 30 gram Pine Nuts coarsely chopped
- Broad leaf parsley a small handful, coarsely chopped
- Salt and Pepper
- 10 gram Pesto green
Cabbage
- 0.25 pcs. Red Cabbage can be substituted with 1/3 pointed cabbage
- 15 gram Butter
- Salt and Pepper
- 0.5 pcs. Lime juice only, can be substituted with 1/3 lemon
Instructions
Oven-baked salmon
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit) (fan).One of the best tips I've learned when it comes to preparing fish is gourmet salting. Sprinkle coarse salt on both sides of the fish and let it sit on the kitchen counter for 5-10 minutes (depending on how salty you want it to be). I gave this salmon fillet 5 minutes. Rinse the salt off the fish with cold water directly under the tap. Then pat the fish dry with a clean tea towel/paper towel.Coarsely chop the pine nuts and parsley. Put them in a bowl with the soft butter and pesto.Grate the zest of your citrus fruit (be careful not to get the white part, it's bitter) and squeeze the juice into the mixture. Stir it well and season to taste with salt and pepper.Place the salmon skin-side down on a baking tray lined with baking paper.Spread the pesto butter evenly on top of the fish.Bake the fish for 15 minutes and it's ready to serve.
Cabbage
- This "salad" was made from the leftovers of a red cabbage. On a summer day, I would probably use either a regular pointed cabbage for the dish. The idea was to create a tangy counterbalance to the rich fish.
- Cut the cabbage into smaller pieces and fry it in the butter on the pan for a few minutes on medium-high heat (9 out of 14 on my stove).
- Add lime juice, salt, and pepper and give it another 2 minutes.
- The salad is now ready.
