Baked salmon
( Salmone al forno )

Baked salmon recipe

Preparation and cooking

• - Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
• - Prepare salmon.
  You need salmon whole.
  So you have only to remove its stomach contents.
  Do not scale it.
  Use a sharp knife to make 2 or 3 diagonal slashes on each side, 0,1-1cm (1/4 - 1/2in) deep.
  Mix butter with a pinch of salt and some lemon juice.
  Fill salmon slashes with this mixture and tarragon.
  Season to taste with salt the inside of your fish and add some flakes of butter and other tarragon too.
  Line a baking pan with foil or oven paper and sprinkle with kitchen salt and butter flakes.
• - Place salmon on it and bake for about 15 minutes.
  At this point low heat to 180°C (350°F), pour half a glass of wine on the fish and continue baking for at least 40 minutes or until fish is tender.
  Remember to baste your fish with its cooking juice once or twice.

Just before serving

• - At the end of cooking remove salmon head and tail.
  Open fish into two halves and remove its bone.
  Put the two halves on a serving plate with skin above.
  Use a sharp knife to remove its skin.
  Sprinkle its surface with some filtered cooking juice and serve.

Note

Tips

• - This dish is tasty even if it is cold. So if you have some fish left, you can serve it cold accompanied with a sauce such as mayonnaise or you can warm it up.

Menu planning

• - Salmon is a fish with fine meats that most people like very much. Baking a whole salmon means to prepare it for a full menu with a lot of people, not for an every day dinner or lunch for your family. That's why I've just written it serves a large number of people. A 1.8kg salmon may be sufficient for more than ten but all depends on the rest of your menu.
• - Baked salmon is perfect for your Christmas Eve Dinner or every time you have to plan a full fish menu. Plan your menu. Italian-style in the following way:
  starter: choose your favorite starter among our Italian antipasto ideas. Link below!
  first course: you could prepare fish lasagna or pasta dressed with sauces made with sea fish, molluscs or shellfish
  second course: this bahed salmon accompanied with a seasonal green salad or potatoes or other seasonal side dish
  dessert: every cake can be OK except cream.

Useful links for this recipe

• - As promised here it is the link to the directory of Italian antipasto.
• - Interested in fish lasagna? or other pasta sauces?

Healthy eating

• - Calories and fat of baked salmon refer only to salmon and butter, the only two important ingredients. It may not seem a high-calorie recipe, but portion is reduced because I considered to serve it in a full menu. A normal serving of 150 grams of fresh salmon (fish cleared of any waste) has 301 calories and 19.5 grams of fat. But good fats!
• - Baked salmon has no fiber.

Loretta

What's the right wine for " Baked salmon "?

My husband and I suggest you to pair Pinot Bianco from Trentino (white wine from Italy) to baked salmon.