Pesto Crusted Salmon Recipes

PESTO CRUSTED SALMON

Steps:

• Lightly oil a baking pan large enough to accommodate the fish. Place salmon in pan skin side down. Run finger over flesh to make sure all bones have been removed. Use pliers to pull out any that remain. Squeeze juice of one lemon and white wine over fish. Lightly salt the salmon. Marinate 15 minutes.
• Preheat broiler.
• Coat the top side of the fish with thick layer of pesto. It should be between an 1/8th to a 1/4 of an inch thick, and cover the surface of the fish.
• Place fish under the broiler. Broil for 8 to 10 minutes per inch of thickness, or until fish flakes and flesh is opaque. Pesto should have formed a heavily browned or even blackened crust.
• Remove from the oven, and set aside for a few minutes. Slice remaining lemon half into thin slices. Serve with lemon slices or arrange on the whole flank for presentation.
• notes: the size of the salmon can be much bigger or smaller depending on your party size without having to adjust the recipe. I make my pesto a day ahead so I have very little to do the day of the dinner party. I serve it with rice Recipe #191120. Leftovers are great cold on a salad with a light vinaigrette dressing.

PESTO-CRUSTED SALMON FILLET WITH CITRUS-SOY SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat a 12-inch non-stick saute pan over a high flame. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Add a small amount of oil to the pan and sear both sides of the salmon quickly, just a few seconds on each side, leaving the fish very rare. Remove the pan from the heat, and place the fish on a work surface. Wipe out the pan and reserve for later use.
• Spread a 1/4-inch layer of pesto evenly over 1 side of the fillet. Sprinkle the top of the pesto with a light, thin dusting of fresh bread crumbs. Carefully invert each fillet into the pan and place it over a medium flame. Toast the bread coating, adding tiny bits of butter to the pan that will melt into the salmon underneath. Once the bread is toasted (after about 1 minute), place the pan in the oven for about 3 minutes, just to heat the fish through.
• To serve, mound 1/6 of the spinach in the center of a warm dinner plate. Invert 1 salmon fillet onto the spinach, crust-side up, and ladle citrus soy sauce around the sides. Place 1 orange segment on top of 1 grapefruit segment in the sauce at 3 different points on the plate.
• In the bowl of a food processor place, pine nuts, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add the basil and process again. With the motor running, add the oil in a stream slowly, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add bread crumbs a little at a time, just enough to make pesto spreadable. Process and repeat until the pesto is the right consistency. Remove from food processor and set aside until ready to use.
• In a non-reactive saucepan, saute the ginger in 1 tablespoon olive oil for 1 minute over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute longer. Deglaze the pan with white wine, champagne vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, and all 3 fruit juices. Reduce the liquid volume down to 1 cup. Add the chicken stock, bring it to a boil, and cook another 3 minutes. Strain, pushing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible, and place the liquid into a blender or food processor. With the motor running on low, add the remaining olive oil in a slow stream until all the oil is incorporated.
• Wash spinach thoroughly and drain, leaving some of the water clinging to the leaves. In a 12-inch saute pan over medium heat, saute the spinach in a small amount of olive oil until it is wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain excess moisture, season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
• Peel potatoes and slice thin in a criss-cross cut on the zig-zag part of the mandolin. Lay out the slices on a baking sheet. Brush with clarified butter and bake until crisp, about 12 minutes.

STEPHAN'S BROILED SALMON PESTO

Steps:

• Lightly oil a baking pan large enough to accommodate the fish. Place salmon in pan skin side down. Run finger over flesh to make sure all bones have been removed. Use pliers to pull out any that remain. Squeeze juice of one lemon and white wine over fish. Marinate 15 minutes.
• Preheat broiler.
• Coat the top side of the fish with thick layer of pesto. It should be between an 1/8th to a 1/4 of an inch thick, and cover the surface of the fish.
• Place fish under the broiler about nine inches from heat source. Broil for 8 to 10 minutes per inch of thickness, or until fish flakes and flesh is opaque. Pesto should have formed a heavily browned crust. Remove from the oven, and set aside for a few minutes. Squeeze half of second lemon over fish. Slice remaining lemon half into thin slices. Place lemon slices on individual servings, or arrange on the whole flank if serving at the table.

GRILLED SALMON WITH PESTO CRUST

Steps:

• Heat a small skillet over medium heat; cook and stir pine nuts in the hot skillet until fragrant and toasted, about 5 minutes.
• Blend basil, Parmesan cheese, toasted pine nuts, and garlic in a blender until a thick paste forms. Gradually stream olive oil into blender and continue blending until desired consistency of pesto is reached; season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate. Season both sides of salmon with salt and pepper.
• Place salmon, skin-side down, onto grill grates; close grill and cook until salmon is about 2/3 done, 8 to 15 minutes. Remove salmon from grill using a spatula and transfer to a baking sheet, skin-side down. Spread pesto evenly over the salmon. Save extra pesto for another use if there are leftovers.
• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
• Broil salmon until fish flakes easily with a fork and pesto is bubbling, about 5 minutes.

PESTO CRUSTED ROAST SALMON

Steps:

• To make the crust: Combine all ingredients except the olive oil, salt and pepper in a food processor.
• With the processor running, slowly pour in the oil and process until incorporated.
• Season with salt and pepper if desired.
• To prepare the salmon: Preheat the oven to 400 F.
• Spread the pesto crust 1/8-inch thick on the salmon fillets.
• In a dry nonstick ovenproof sauté pan or skillet over high heat, heat the olive oil and sear the salmon, crust-side down.
• Turn the fillets over and place in the oven for 5 to 6 minutes, until cooked through.

PESTO CRUSTED SALMON

Steps:

• how to make Pulse the bread in a food processor to make breadcrumbs. Remove about 1/2 cup of the crumbs and reserve them. Add the pine nuts, garlic, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper to the crumbs in the food processor and pulse. Add the basil and process again. With the motor running, add the olive oil in a slow stream, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the pesto is spreadable. Heat the oven to 400°F. Brush a small baking sheet with oil, put the fillets on it, and season them with salt and pepper. Spread a 1/4-inch layer of the pesto evenly over the top of each fillet. Sprinkle the reserved breadcrumbs over the pesto. Bake until the salmon is cooked -- it should just start to turn opaque, with a trace of bright orange in the middle -- and the topping is lightly browned, 10 to 15 min., depending on the thickness of the fish. From Fine Cooking 33, pp. 82

PESTO SALMON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. For pesto, tear bread into pieces; place in a miniature food processor. Pulse until fine crumbs form. Set aside 1 tablespoon. To the remaining bread crumbs, add the basil, parsley, oil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and pepper; cover and process until finely chopped. , Place salmon on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Spread with pesto. Sprinkle with reserved bread crumbs. Bake, uncovered, until fish flakes easily with a fork and crumbs are lightly browned, 20-22 minutes.