Pepper crusted Salmon with Wine and Prawn Sauce

This recipe is very quick to cook and so is great for a midweek supper or a fabulous supper dish for cooking for friends at the weekend.

Cooking the Sauce

Making this sauce is very like making gravy for a Sunday roast.  Instead of starting with the meat juices, start with a small amount of butter. To add flavour and texture to the sauce, use onion, garlic and mushrooms.  It is important to reduce the wine to intensify the flavour – be careful not to boil away all of the liquid or you will have add more wine and start reducing again.  Finish the sauce with a small amount of cream, this sauce is very rich and the pasta won’t be swimming in sauce, just moistening it.  The prawns are already cooked and just need to be warmed through.  Don’t cook them for too long or they will toughen.

Cooking the Fish

Salmon fillets are quite reasonable in price, widely available fresh or frozen.   Fish makes a great alternative to meat and cooks very quickly with minimum preparation.  Crust the salmon with freshly ground black pepper for both presentation and flavour.  Salmon is easy to cook as you can see the colour change from opaque to pink as is cooks through.

Cooking the Pasta

Pasta is a fantastic food, easy to make, nutritious and versatile.  Pasta should be cooked until “al dente” – tender, yet firm to bite.  Allow 100g – 125g uncooked pasta per person.  To cook pasta, boil in a large pan of fast boiling salted water.  Check the pack instructions for the times as the shape and quality of the pasta will determine how long it needs to cook for. When cooked, drain and either add to the sauce or add little butter, serve immediately.

 

 
Pepper crusted Salmon with Wine and Prawn Sauce

Serves : 2

25g butter

1 small onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

150ml White Wine

50g Mushrooms, finely sliced

100ml Double Cream

100g Cooked Peeled Prawns

1tbsp Oil

2 fillets of Salmon

Chopped Parsley

Egg Pasta, shells or penne

Method

• In a small pan heat the butter and gently fry the onion and garlic until softened.  Add the white wine and mushrooms. 
• Boil until the liquid has reduced to @ 2tbsps. 
• Pour in the double cream and simmer to reduce slightly and thicken the sauce. 
• Stir in the cooked prawns.  Season to taste. Cover and remove from the heat.
• Cook the pasta according to pack instructions.
• Brush the fillet of salmon with a little oil, coat generously with freshly ground black pepper. 
• Heat a non stick frying pan with 1 tbsp oil, when hot, place in the salmon fillets, (flesh side down).
• Fry for 4-5 minutes on the flesh side and turn over to cook 4-5 minutes skin side down. 
• Serve the pasta in a large bowl.  Spoon over the sauce, place a salmon fillet on top of the pasta. Sprinkle with chopped parsley to garnish.