Elegant and full of great textures, this dish is special enough to serve at your next dinner party yet quick enough to whip up for a midweek meal. To keep things extra simple, strip the herb salad back to just two herbs.
Crisp-skinned salmon with pea purée and soft-herb salad
Elegant and full of great textures, serve this dish at your next dinner party or quickly whip it up for a midweek meal. To keep things extra simple, strip the herb salad back to just two herbs.
- 20 mins preparation
- 10 mins cooking
- Serves 4
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Ingredients
- 2 golden shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 2 cups (loosely packed) mixed soft herb leaves (such as mint, chives, parsley, dill or chervil)
- 1½ tbsp grapeseed oil
- 4 salmon fillets (about 180gm each), skin on, pin-bones removed
Pea purée
- 30 gm butter, diced
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- 500 gm frozen baby peas
- 80 ml chicken stock or water (⅓ cup)
- ¼ tsp ground fennel seeds (optional)
- 60 gm crème fraîche (¼ cup)
Method
- 1Toss shallot, sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl to combine well, season to taste and leave to soften. Just before serving, add herbs, toss to combine and season to taste.
- 2For pea purée, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add garlic and fry gently until softened (1-2 minutes). Add peas, stock and fennel seeds, bring to the boil and cook until peas are just tender (1-2 minutes). Remove from heat, add crème fraîche and purée with a hand-held blender until smooth. Cover with foil to keep warm.
- 3Heat oil in non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add salmon skin-side down, top with baking paper, weight with a heavy pan, and fry until skin is crisp (2-3 minutes). Turn over and fry until salmon is cooked to medium (1 minute). Remove from pan and rest for a minute. Arrange salmon on plates with pea purée and herb salad, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, season with black pepper and serve with lemon wedges.