Wild Salmon With Fennel and Pistachios

By Florence Fabricant

Wild Salmon With Fennel and Pistachios
Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
4(408)
Comments
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Assertively flavorful, lush-textured wild Pacific salmon — notably king, but also sockeye — are seasonal treasures. Unlike farmed Atlantic salmon, which is of a different genus entirely and available year-round, Pacific salmon is a late spring through summer catch. Its richness makes a fairly modest portion satisfying. In this recipe I paired it with fennel, pistachios and lemon. I started the fish fillet in a very hot oven (not quite volcanic, but about as hot as a home oven can get) then immediately cut the temperature down and let the salmon cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. It’s a fail-safe technique that guarantees against overcooking.

Featured in: The Power of Terroir in Sicily’s Volcanic White Wines

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • 2medium-size fennel bulbs
  • 4tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 2pounds king salmon fillet, skin on and pin bones removed
  • Salt and ground black pepper
  • 2tablespoons shelled unsalted pistachios, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped
  • 3tablespoons lemon juice
  • ½cup dry white wine
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

441 calories; 29 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 33 grams protein; 626 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 500 degrees. Trim any fronds from the fennel and chop 3 tablespoons of them and set aside. Thinly slice the fennel bulbs, discarding the cores. Select a baking dish or heavy skillet, which can go on top of the stove, to fit the salmon. Place it in the oven, add 1 tablespoon of the butter and when the butter has melted after a minute or so, scatter the fennel bulbs in the pan, turning it with tongs to coat with butter. Return pan to the oven for 10 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Place the salmon, skin side down, in the baking dish on top of the fennel, season with salt and pepper and dot with 1½ tablespoons of the butter. Return the pan to the oven. Reduce the heat to 225 degrees. Let bake 15 minutes for rare, 20 minutes for medium-rare. Turn off oven.

  3. Step 3

    When the salmon is done, transfer it to an oven-proof serving platter and surround with the cooked fennel. Tent with foil. Place in the turned-off oven with the door slightly ajar to keep warm.

  4. Step 4

    Place the baking pan on top of the stove on medium-high heat. Add the pistachios and give them a quick stir. Add the lemon juice and wine and bring to a lively simmer. Reduce the liquid to about ⅓ cup. Lower heat and whisk in the remaining 1½ tablespoons butter bit by bit. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, remove the fish and fennel from the oven and spoon the sauce over the fish. Strew the reserved fennel fronds over top and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
408 user ratings
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Comments

SusanT

What’s a good substitute for fennel in this recipe?

FH Cyclist

This was excellent & pretty easy. Got 1lb fresh sockeye & planned to cut everything in half. Used 4full recipe 4 Tbl of butter as it didn’t seem that, with only 1 fennel bulb, there was enough to get that rich flavor. Also sliced around the core after wasn’t able to do conventional slices since wanted as much of the fennel as possible. If using fresh sockeye, will do 15 min vs 20 min used this 1st time. I also served salt & peppered tomato wedges with fennel fronds over the top. Delish.

Ray

Skip instruction #3—overly complicated, entirely unnecessary and just creating additional dishes to wash. Just make the sauce while the salmon is cooking and be ready to pour it on at the end. Also, don't add the pistachios to the sauce—they become soggy. Instead, add them on top of the salmon for the last 5 minutes or so of cooking to keep them crisp for a nice contrast in texture and for a sauce that tastes better.

Lia D

Pretty good and will make again with the following adjustments: Skip step 3. Make sauce in medium saucepan while the fennel is in the oven, but omit pistachios. Make two divets in the fennel and place salmon directly on the pan skin down, then pour sauce on top of salmon and bake at 225 for 20 min. Top with pistachio and serve

LW

Very tasty. I halved the recipe and made the entire thing in a heavy skillet on the stove. Just removed the salmon at the end for a few minutes while I made the wine/lemon sauce. We used high-quality king salmon fillets. Thumbs up for both my husband and me!

Betsy

Use orange juice instead of lemon juice for sauce. Sprinkle pistachios on fish, not in sauce.

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