Salmon en Papillote
Salmon en Papillote
With this traditional method of cooking fish wrapped in parchment paper, the paper fills with steam and puffs up like a balloon. The salmon is cooked relatively quickly while remaining tender, but the best part of preparing something en papillote is when you tear open the paper, release the steam, and take in the aroma. I love the Mediterranean flavors of these vegetables, but feel free to substitute whatever vegetables, herbs, and citrus you have on hand.
Ingrediënten
- Serves 4
- 2 teaspoons salt-packed capers
- 8 button mushrooms
- 1 fennel bulb trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 12 green olives pitted and thinly sliced
- 1½ pounds salmon skin removed and cut into four portions
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons dry white wine
- A handful of basil leaves
- 1 lemon thinly sliced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish
Instructies
- Preheat your oven to 400°F.
- In a fine-mesh strainer, rinse the capers in cold water, then soak them covered with cold water in a small bowl for 10 minutes to remove their salt.
- Drain and set aside.
- Mushrooms absorb water like a sponge.
- Instead of rinsing, clean them by brushing off any dirt with a damp paper towel.
- Remove and discard their stems and thinly slice the caps.
- Divide the vegetables into four portions, one for each piece of fish.
- Cut four pieces of parchment paper a bit more than double the size of one fish portion and fold each one in half.
- Unfold one piece of parchment paper and layer two slices of fennel on one-half of the paper as the base.
- Layer the mushrooms on top of the fennel.
- Set a piece of fish on top of the mushrooms, then sprinkle on the capers, cherry tomatoes, and olives.
- Douse with ½ tablespoon of the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the white wine.
- Top with the basil leaves, lemon slices, and a healthy pinch each of salt and pepper.
- Refold the parchment paper to cover the fish.
- Starting on one side, fold the parchment paper up in shallow triangles, working your way around the unfinished edge until you’ve sealed the paper packet on all sides.
- Fold the final triangle down to force the “pillow” you’ve created to lie flat.
- Repeat with the remaining three portions of fish.
- Place the paper pillows on a large baking sheet and bake for 14 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from your oven.
- Use scissors to carefully open each paper packet and discard the lemon slices.
- Push the fish and its accoutrements onto plates, sliding the paper out from beneath each one.
- Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.
