This recipe is a pure celebration of one of my favourite foraged ingredients, I love wild garlic leaves for the freshness and mild garlic flavour they give to dishes. Wild garlic can be identified by its distinctive smell, long pointed leaves and white flowers, which bloom at the end of the season. It can be eaten raw in salads, or blanched and used in place of spinach, or made into a delicious pesto, blended with lemon juice, pine nuts and Parmesan.
This recipe is inspired by ingredients that can be found in Forage Box, a subscription service delivering a monthly collection of wild/foraged foods. Forage Box aim to provide home cooks like me with 'snapshots’ of wild flavours and to showcase their potential in the kitchen. From syrups to salts, freshly picked to powdered, juice to jam, their foraged ingredients will delight and surprise you. Find out more information on the subscription and how to sign up here.
In this dish you'll find fresh salmon fillets and delicious Spring asparagus. Wild garlic pesto can be made in advance a few days previous or even frozen and defrosted ready for use.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 2)
2 salmon fillets (sustainably sourced), skin removed
olive oil
1 lemon
handful of fresh dill, roughly chopped
200g asparagus, preferably thicker spears
175g linguine
2 portions of wild garlic pesto (see recipe)
3 tbsp natural yogurt
Parmesan cheese, grated (to serve)
*baking parchment
METHOD
Start by heating the oven to 180.c (fan).
Carefully skin the salmon fillets by placing each skin-side down, on a chopping board. Holding the tail end firmly, use a sharp knife to make a cut between the flesh and skin in the opposite direction from the tail end.Holding the end tightly, continue to cut along the length of the fillet (take care not to cut through the skin). Remove and discard skin.
Place each fillet in a small square of parchment paper (with enough length around the sides to make a parcel), season generously with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Squeeze over a tsp of lemon juice over each fillet, add a lemon slice and the fresh dill on top. Gently seal each package, folding the sides over and tucking under each fillet. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes, then remove leaving the fillets to continue steaming in their parcels.
Whilst the salmon is cooking, wash the asparagus and trim or snap the woody ends off the base of. Place on a baking tray, drizzle with oil and season, then place in the oven for 6 minutes until bright green and tender, removing when done and slicing diagonally into smaller stems for serving with the pasta.
Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook linguine according to package instructions.
Strain the pasta in a colander, return to the pan and add both the pesto and yogurt, mixing through. Add a squeeze of lemon.
To serve, place the pasta in a bowl, then top with the asparagus spears and salmon fillet. Grate Parmesan over the dish and add another dash of lemon.
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