Colm O'Gorman's baked salmon with harissa and pistachio crumb

This week’s recipe is a very tasty baked salmon dish that looks impressively ‘cheffy’ but is actually very simple and quick to prepare. 

This week’s recipe is a very tasty baked salmon dish that looks impressively ‘cheffy’ but is actually very simple and quick to prepare. 

For this dish, salmon fillets are spread with some harissa paste and topped with a simple crumb made from chopped pistachios, panko breadcrumbs and lemon zest before being baked for just ten to twelve minutes.

A few tips. Buy a good harissa paste. Avoid supermarket own brand versions as they tend to be rather bland. Go for a rose harissa paste. Belazu rose harissa paste is my personal favourite. It has a lovely balance of spicy, sweet smokiness and great depth of flavour. It is quite widely available, but if you cannot find it then Al’Fez brand harissa paste is a good choice and is available in most major supermarkets.

Shelled pistachios are available in Tesco, but you will likely find them at much better value in a good Asian supermarket. Do not use salted pistachios, for this dish you need plain pistachio nuts. You can shell them yourself if you wish, but that is time consuming and quite fiddly to do, so best go for the shelled variety.

And finally, a word on buying salmon. If you can at all, go for wild or organic salmon. It tastes much better than farmed salmon and is obviously much more environmentally sustainable.

I serve this dish with a side of crispy Salt and Vinegar Potatoes. This is my very slight adaptation of a dish by the fabulous Nigella Lawson. 

These potatoes are very, very moreish, so make sure to make plenty of them. Use baby new potatoes, or small rooster potatoes cut to size if you prefer a flourier spud.

Baked salmon with harissa and pistachio crumb

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

Another side of a simple, fresh green salad or any other of your chosen vegetable sides will make this a meal to remember.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Ingredients:

• 4 salmon fillets

• 60g shelled pistachios

• 20g panko breadcrumbs

• Zest of half a lemon

• ½ tsp flaky sea salt

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 4 tsp harissa paste

• Salt and Vinegar Potatoes:

• 1kg small potatoes

• ½ a lemon

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 tsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 1 tsp flaky sea salt

Method

1. Wash the potatoes, cutting any larger ones in two so that they are all evenly sized, about five cm in size is perfect. Pop the potatoes into a microwave proof bowl. Cut the lemon into four pieces, peel the garlic and add both to the bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and microwave on full power for ten minutes.

2. Preheat your oven to 180 Celsius.

3. While the oven is warming, pop the shelled pistachios into a food processor and pulse to chop them roughly. Do not over process the nuts, you want a texture a bit like large breadcrumbs, but with quite a few of them still about quarter size. You can do this by hand if you prefer, but the food processor will save you some time.

4. Add the chopped nuts to a bowl, along with the panko breadcrumbs, the zest of half a lemon, half a teaspoon of flaky sea salt and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Mix to combine thoroughly.

5. Arrange the salmon fillets, skin side down, on a lightly oiled baking tray. Spread one teaspoon of harissa over the top of each fillet of fish. Add the pistachio crumb, pressing it down slightly to compact it slightly on the salmon. Some of the excess crumb will spill off and surround the fish, do not worry about that, just keep it fairly close to the salmon so that it does not dry out too much.

6. Remove the potatoes from the microwave and place them in the basket of your air fryer. Use a potato masher to lightly crush the potatoes, just enough to break the skin and flatten them a little. Squeeze over the lemon, taking care as the pieces will be quite hot, and sprinkle over two teaspoons of olive oil. Toss the potatoes gently to coat them in the oil and air fry them at 240 Celsius until they are crisp and golden. This will take ten to fifteen minutes. Toss them a few times as they air fry to ensure they crisp evenly.

7. When you have the potatoes in the air fryer, pop the tray of salmon into the oven and bake for ten to twelve minutes. If you have one, use a probe thermometer to check the internal temperature of the salmon after ten minutes. Slide the probe into the centre of the fillet from the side. It will be perfectly cooked once the internal temperature is at somewhere between 45 to 50 Celsius. Do not overcook the salmon, or it will dry out and lose a lot of its flavour. If you do not have a thermometer, you can check the salmon by using a fork to flake away a little of one of the fillets. If it flakes easily, and the fish is opaque and nicely pink, it is done.

8. Once the salmon is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before serving.

9. While the fish is resting, season the potatoes. Toss the crispy potatoes in a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of flaky sea salt. Try one and add more vinegar and/or salt to taste.

10. Serve the salmon with the potatoes on the side, along with a fresh green salad or a vegetable side of your own preference.