Oven Baked Scottish Salmon with Wild Garlic Pesto by Gilli Allingham of The Really Garlicky Company
For me, wild garlic signifies the start of spring. I love walking around the farm to be greeted by the lovely fresh garlicky smell that the wild garlic gives off. It also makes the perfect mid-walk snack! I use it a lot in my dishes around this time of the year, especially in this salmon dish.
It is the perfect dish for a warm spring evening. It’s a shame that the wild garlic goes out of season so quickly, but I tend to pick some now, chop it up and freeze it so I can have an emergency supply to keep going for the rest of the year!
The Really Garlicky Company, based just outside Nairn, are Scotland’s only garlic growers. The Allingham family have been growing garlic for the last 18 years, where they originally diversified their seed potato business to offer something new to Scotland’s foodies.
Priding themselves in their Hardneck Porcelain garlic, they produce flavourful, large, juicy bulbs. From this, they produce a range of garlicky products, including aioli, garlic ciabatta, garlic butter and various chutneys and condiments including caramelised onions and garlic relish.
Find them in your local Waitrose, Farm Shop or Deli’s across the country, or visit their website: www.reallygarlicky.co.uk.
Ingredients: Serves 2
2 salmon steaks, about 150g each
2 handfuls (about 100g) of wild garlic leaves
50g of pine nuts, toasted in a dry frying pan
150ml olive oil
1 clove of Really Garlicky Patagonian Purple garlic, crushed
50g parmesan, grated
100g asparagus, steamed to serve
Salt & pepper
Method
1 Pre-heat the oven to 220˚C/Fan 200˚C/Gas 7.
2 Put the wild garlic leaves, toasted pine nuts and crushed garlic in to a food processor and blitz for about 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the olive oil until blended.
3 Scrape in to a bowl and stir through the grated parmesan and season to taste
4 Lay each salmon steak on a separate piece of baking parchment, large enough to make a parcel.
5 Spread a tablespoon of wild garlic pesto on to each salmon fillet.
6 Fold over the parchment to cover the salmon and fold the edges together so the parcel looks a bit like a Cornish pasty.
7 Carefully place the parcels on a baking tray and cook for 10-15 minutes.
8 Unwrap the salmon and serve with the steamed asparagus, spooning any buttery juices over the fish and serve immediately.
9 Any leftover pesto can either be frozen for later use or used in pasta dishes or mixed through mashed potatoes.
In association with Taste Communications.
www.tastecommunications.co.uk
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