Recipe: lightning-fast salmon from the freezer
Those salmon fillets in the freezer really need to be used up. What are you going to do with them? With this recipe, you don’t have to defrost the salmon beforehand – so if you’re craving it now, you can eat in half an hour.
You don’t need to rinse or defrost the salmon pieces beforehand; they go straight into the oven. You cover them with a delicious herby layer made from pesto and panko and place them in a baking dish in a hot oven. The secret: the salmon is steamed first, then roasted for a crispy crust.
Not a looker, but delicious
Unfortunately, the dish won’t be as photogenic as those beautiful pictures in a cookbook. Because the fish is heated quickly, you’ll inevitably start seeing those white droplets on the sides of the salmon fillets. If you want, you can wipe them away, but it’s not necessary. This dish isn’t meant for a photo, but to be eaten.
How to make lightning-fast salmon from the freezer
- Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
- Remove the fillets from the freezer.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper over the top and bottom and place them on a piece of baking paper in a baking dish.
- Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven.
- Bake the fillets covered for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the pesto and panko together.
- Now remove the aluminum foil from the salmon. Divide the herby mixture over the fish.
- Return to the oven and bake the salmon for another 5 to 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it: the crust should become crispy and the salmon may still be dark pink inside, but definitely not cold anymore. If you’re a measure-twice, know-for-sure kind of person: the internal temperature of the salmon should be around 63 degrees.
You can also replace the pesto with a sun-dried tomato tapenade or a homemade pesto, for example one made with macadamia nuts and coriander.
Don’t have panko? You can also make this quick salmon dish with regular breadcrumbs, but it won’t be as tasty. You can also quickly grate some rusks or finely grind toasted bread – coarser breadcrumbs are better, because they become crispier.
