Fish can be expensive which is why I get excited when I come up with a tasty salmon recipe as salmon is fairly reasonable in price. Everything cooks in one roasting pan; there is no need to make any side dishes and it’s truly scrumptious.
The acidity from the cherry tomatoes cuts through the sometimes overwhelming richness of the salmon and the roast onions and garlic add sweetness. And who doesn’t love a huge pile of crisp, roast potatoes to eat?
One of the loveliest vegetables that come into season during spring is asparagus. British asparagus from the Wye valley and Herefordshire is the best. The season is incredibly short; the asparagus is around for only six few weeks and its flavour work so well in this dish.
The tarragon and parsley herb butter can be a faff to make, so I usually double the quantities below to make enough to last for at least 6 months in the freezer. This butter is brilliant for adding flavour to any fish, melted on top of a grilled steak or stirred into steamed green beans, broccoli and boiled new potatoes.
Miraculous ingredients: Maris piper potatoes, salmon fillets, cherry tomatoes, fresh asparagus (in season), unsalted butter, fresh tarragon
Roast Salmon fillets, asparagus, potatoes, garlic and rosemary with a tarragon parsley butter
Ingredients
6 large potatoes (Maris piper works well in this dish)
5 large garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
2 medium brown onions, peeled and quartered
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 fresh sprigs of rosemary
4 to 6 fresh salmon fillets (1 or 2 per person)
50g cherry tomatoes
200g fresh asparagus (only use when they are in season)
Coarse sea salt
Tarragon and parsley herb butter- any leftover butter can be stored in the freezer 50g unsalted butter 1 clove of garlic 10g fresh parsley (a handful) 10g fresh tarragon (a handful)
Method
Preheat your oven to 220C while you prepare the ingredients.
Start by making the herb butter. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Scrape the herb butter out of the processor onto a large sheet of parchment paper. Roll the butter using the surrounding paper to create a sausage shape.
Peel the potatoes and then cut them lengthwise into 1/8ths to create thin wedges. Put the potatoes, onions and whole garlic cloves into a roasting pan and scatter with rosemary leaves. Pour over the olive oil, season with salt and mix well so all the ingredients are coated.
Place the pan into the oven and set the timer for 35 minutes. When the timer pings, pull out the roasting pan and turn the potatoes, onion and garlic with a metal spatula to brown the underside. Smear the asparagus spears with olive oil and carefully place them with the salmon fillets and tomatoes on top of the roast potatoes. The fillets taper off at one end; tuck this thin end under the fat part of the fillet so it doesn’t over cook. Finally, place pieces of herb butter on top of each fillet and put the pan back in the oven. Set the timer for 12 minutes.
When the timer pings again, take the pan out and remove the roast salmon fillets and asparagus spears on a warm plate – they are cooked. Turn the potatoes, onion, garlic and tomatoes a few times and put the pan back in the oven for another 10 minutes. This last bit of roasting will make the potatoes crispy.
Serve each salmon fillet with a few asparagus spears, roast tomatoes, a pile of roast potatoes, onions and garlic.
Preparation time 15 minutes, cooking 1 hour, serves 4