Salsa verde side of salmon
This is a wonderful centre-of-the-table type of dish – a whole side of salmon baked with a punchy salsa verde. It’s served with onion wedges cooked gently in a medley of simple, flavourful miso and ghee, and crispy salmon skin crumbled on top. Nothing wasted, everything used, and stunning to look at and eat.
Ingredients
For the base
- 6 onions, peeled and halved, left intact at the root
- 2 tbsp ghee, melted
- 3 tbsp miso paste
- ½ tsp salt
For the salmon
- 1.5kg/3lb 5oz side of salmon, de-scaled and pin-boned (ask your fishmonger to separate the salmon and skin but keep the skin)
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tbsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
For the salsa verde
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú ghee
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 95g tin sardines in oil
- 40²µ/1½´Ç³ú capers
- 3 garlic cloves
- ½ tsp salt
- 60g/2¼oz fresh parsley
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú Japanese panko breadcrumbs
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line a roasting dish big enough to lay the salmon in comfortably and another flat tray to lay the skin in with baking paper.
For the base, add the onions, ghee, miso paste and salt to the roasting dish. Get your hands in there and give it a good mix. Lay the onions, flat-side down, in the roasting dish.
For the salmon, pat the skin dry and cut the salmon in half. In a bowl, mix the cornflour, paprika and salt. Smear the cornflour mixture over the skin until it is coated all over. Lay flat on the prepared baking tray. Pop the onions in the oven on the middle shelf and the skin just below. Roast for 20 minutes, turning the skin over halfway through so it crisps up evenly.
To make the salsa verde, put all the ingredinets, including the oil from the tin of sardines, into a food processor and whizz until well combined.
Take the tray with the onions out of the oven, move the onions to the sides and place the salmon in the centre. Cover the top of the salmon in the salsa verde. Bake for 30–35 minutes.
When the skin is crisp, remove from the oven and leave to cool. As soon as the salmon is ready, serve the onions and salmon on a platter. Crumble the skin all over the onions and it is ready to eat.
