Prep8 minutes
Bake12 minutes
Serves4
Ingredients
- 4 wild salmon fillets, about 6 ounces each, skin on
- 1 packed cup flat leaf parsley, leaves and tender stems
- 1/2 cup fresh dill
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little for the pan
- 1 teaspoon whole coriander seed, toasted and ground
- 1/2 teaspoon whole fennel seed, toasted and ground
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan and brush it with a little oil.
- Toast the coriander and fennel in a dry pan over medium heat, shaking often, until you can smell them, about 90 seconds. Grind them while they are still warm.
- Pile the parsley, dill, and garlic on a board and chop everything together until it is fine and uniform. Scrape it into a bowl and stir in the olive oil, ground spice, salt, and several turns of pepper. It should look like a loose green paste.
- Pat the salmon dry and set it skin down on the pan. Season lightly with salt, then press the herb mixture over the top of each fillet in a thick, even layer. Use all of it.
- Bake 10 to 14 minutes depending on thickness. It is done when the thickest part just flakes when you press it and the center is still deeply colored.
- Serve immediately, straight from the pan.
Notes from my kitchen
Wild versus farmed. Wild salmon is leaner and cooks faster, so start checking at ten minutes. If you are using farmed, add three or four minutes and expect a softer texture.
Toast the spice. Ninety seconds in a dry pan is the difference between a herb crust that tastes green and one that tastes finished. Coriander in particular goes from dusty to citrusy, which is where the brightness comes from without any acid in the dish.
Do not make the paste in advance. Chopped parsley and dill go dull and dark within a few hours. Chop it while the oven heats.
Leftovers. Cold salmon broken into a bowl of rice with a spoonful of olive oil and more fresh dill is one of the better lunches in this house.
What to serve with it
- Hard roasted root vegetables made earlier in the week, warmed in a hot pan
- Cucumbers and thinly sliced sweet onion with olive oil and salt
- Plain rice, so the herb crust is clearly the point