Conjure up the flavours of bouillabaise without the fuss with this light and simple recipe from Home Bird, the new cookery book by Megan Davies
IMAGE: CLARE WINFIELD © RYLAND PETERS & SMALL
Here, I’ve taken the flavours of bouillabaise, simplified them and popped into parcels. One pan, one baking dish, one small bowl and you’re good to go. The flavours remind me of cooking school, enjoyed now without the stress and a glass of chilled white wine.
Provence Salmon Parcels
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
For the salmon parcels
- 1 leek trimmed and finely sliced
- 1 bulb fennel trimmed and finely sliced
- 1 clove garlic grated
- 1 pinch saffron threads
- 1 beef tomato halved and thinly sliced
- 6 strips of orange peel
- 4 skin-on salmon fillets
- 10 g (1∕3 oz.) fresh parsley
- 100 ml (1∕3 cup) white wine
For the cheat’s rouille
- 65 g (1⁄4 cup) mayonnaise
- 1 pinch saffron
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 garlic clove grated
- 1 lemon
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- olive oil for frying
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 ̊C fan/200 ̊C/400 ̊F/Gas 6.
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan/skillet on a medium heat and, once hot, add the sliced leek and fennel. Sweat, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute, then remove from the heat. Add the pinch of saffron and mix to combine.
- Put two large pieces of parchment paper, about 40.5-cm/16-inch square each, onto a clean work surface. Divide the sliced tomato between each piece, placing it in the centre, in a rough square shape (you are going to place the salmon on top, so make a bed for 2 fillets per piece of paper). Add the orange peel.
- Next, divide the fennel and leek over the tomato. Add two raw salmon fillets to each open parcel, skin-side down, and tear the parsley over the top.
- Season with salt and pepper and then bring the edges of the paper together, rolling the edges over and pinching tightly to seal. Before you finish the seal on each parcel, pour the wine into the openings, dividing it evenly. Seal the final section of the parcels, transfer to a baking sheet, then place on the top shelf of the oven.
- Bake for 8–12 minutes, depending on how you like your salmon cooked. (For more well-done fillets, bake for 12 minutes).
- Meanwhile, make the cheat’s rouille. Add the mayonnaise, saffron and olive oil to a bowl. Add the garlic followed by the lemon zest – grate half of the zest in. Mix well with a small pinch of seasoning and taste. Add a squeeze of lemon juice if it needs it.
- Remove the parcels from the oven and carefully transfer the sealed parcels to a serving plate. Taketo the table and enjoy opening the parcels together. Divide between plates and add a dollop of ‘rouille’ on the side. If you have some leftover lemon, cut it into wedges to serve.
Notes
Leftovers: Serve up cold with salad.
Swap ins: The ingredients used lend themselves best to the traditional bouillabaise dish, but swap in onion, spring onion/ scallion or carrot ribbons instead of leek and fennel if needed and any type of tomato is fine. Use white wine vinegar or just water if you don’t want to use wine.
Swap ins: The ingredients used lend themselves best to the traditional bouillabaise dish, but swap in onion, spring onion/ scallion or carrot ribbons instead of leek and fennel if needed and any type of tomato is fine. Use white wine vinegar or just water if you don’t want to use wine.
Taken from Home Bird: Simple Low-Waste Recipes for Family & Friends by Megan Davies, published by Ryland Peters & Small (£16.99)
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