Salmone: Salmon

Salmon is not a Mediterranean fish, but this doesn't mean you won't find it in Italian fish markets. Quite the contrary; it's in great supply and quite fresh. Steaks like the one shown here are delightful grilled or broiled, though I prefer to light a fire out of doors when I cook them. If you instead have a whole fresh salmon, you might try:

Salmone in Crosta, or in Pastry

To serve 6-8:
A fresh salmon weighing about 4 1/2 pounds (2 k)
3 1/3 pounds (1.5 k) puff pastry dough (store-bought or home made)
2 egg yolks
Unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Scale the salmon, clean it, and remove all of the fins except the tail fin. Skin one side.

Preheat your oven to 460 F (230 C).

Butter a pan large enough to hold the fish.

Roll the dough out enough that it can easily wrap around the fish and set the sheet in the pan, lining one of the edges up with one of the sides of the pan. Lay the fish on the dough, with the skin-side down. Lightly salt the fish, inside and out, and pepper the cavity.

Cut the sheet of dough around the fish, leaving a margin of about an inch, and cover the fish with the section of the sheet you cut free. Crimp the edges of the top and bottom sheets, and brush the seam with one of the yolks.

Decorate the upper sheet of dough as you see fit, for example by making leaves from the leftover dough cuttings, and when you are done brush the upper crust with the remaining yolk, lightly beaten. You can also, if you want, nick the dough to indicate portion sizes.

Roast the fish for about an hour. Remove it from the oven, and cut it into portions, following the nickes if you made them. Each portion will consist of a piece of fish and the upper crust, while the salmon skin and lower crust should remain in the pan (you may need to use a spatula to separate the fish from the skin).

Salmon on About:
Salmon in Green Ginger Sauce
Low Fat Salmon and Asparagus in Foil Packets

How to Select Fresh Fish
How to Serve a Whole Fish at Table
Other Fish Recipes