10 oz fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup cream cheese – room temp
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese – room temp
pinch of ground nutmeg
8 – 6 to 8 oz salmon fillets w/ skin on 1″ thick
olive oil
2-2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs from French bread loaf
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Cook spinach in large pot of boiling water just until wilted about 30 seconds. Drain, rinse with cold water, squeeze, spinach dry, finely chop. Place in bowl with the cheeses and nutmeg mix until combined. season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cut one 3/4″ deep slit 2-1/2″ long down center of top side of salmon (skin side down). Form a pocket and divide the cheese between the 8 fillets and stuff into slit and cover the top of the salmon. Can be made 4 hours ahead.
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Brush rimmed baking sheet w/olive oil. Season salmon with salt and pepper.
- Mix bread crumbs, butter and parmesan cheese. Top each fillet with topping and pressing to adhere. Place salmon skin side down on baking sheet. Bake till opaque in center about 12 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve.
Notes: I have made this with salmon that has skin and without. If you use salmon without skin just be careful to not cut all the way through in your slit so you can form a pocket. (The skin helps hold the meat together, so careful in the slit and stuffing.) If you poke all the way through it will taste the same the cheese may just leak through and stick to the pan when you go to remove it to serve. I usually end up with more on top of the fillet then in the actual slit you are making and stuffing. Stuffing does help hold the cheese on top of the salmon. Also, with salmon it’s hard to get it all the same width. So adjust accordingly.
Recipe: From the Bon Appetit collection.
Wine pairing…Crisp Sauvignon Blanc