Pesto-crusted Salmon
By Narayan • 20:03 on Monday, March 11, 2002 • Comment
This isn’t the lightest preparation for salmon, but it’s one of the tastiest. In my opinion, it works best if the salmon fillets are fresh (of course) and if they’re not incredibly thick. The hardest thing about this recipe is flipping the fillets over without the crust crumbling to bits—use a non-stick pan if you have one.
This recipe comes from my favorite seafood cookbook, Mark Bittman’s Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking. A better reference on seafood you will not find, I promise.
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon pine nuts
- 6 cups lightly packed basil leaves
- .5 cup + 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 1.5 cups fresh bread crumbs
- salt & pepper
- 6 6-oz skinless salmon fillets
- 1 tbs. unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
- in a food processor, pulse the garlic and pine nuts to a paste. add the basil and process to a paste. with the machine on, slowly pour in .6 cup of the olive oil, scraping down the sides once, to make a smooth pesto sauce. scrape the pesto into a bowl and stir in 1 cup of the bread crumbs. season with salt and pepper.
- preheat the oven to 350\Z. in a large skillet, warm 2 teaspoons of the oil over high heat. season the salmon fillets on both sides with salt and pepper. when the oil is almost smoking, add 3 of the fillets and brown them quickly, turning once, about 1 minute per side. repeat with the remaining fillets. let the salmon cool to room temperature.
- spread 2 tablespoons of the pesto on 1 side of each fillet. gently pack the remaining bread crumbs on top of the pesto.
- warm 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in each of 2 large ovenproof skillets over moderate heat. when the pans are hot, carefully add the salmon fillets, pesto side down. put 1 piece of the butter next to each fillet to melt into the oil. cook until the bread crumbs are toasted, about 3 minutes. transfer the skillets to the oven and bake for about 5 minutes, or until the salmon is just cooked through. serve the fillets pesto side up.