Saturday, April 24, 2010

Pan Roasted Salmon with Asparagus Bundles and Cherry Tomatoes


Nothing says "Spring" quite as much as fresh new asparagus, and it's given a starring role in this Jamie Oliver recipe for Pan Roast Salmon with Green and White Asparagus, Rosemary, Wrapped in Bundles with Pancetta and Red and Yellow Cherry Tomatoes. Whew, that was a mouthful! Luckily making this dish was quite a bit easier than typing that recipe title.

n.o.e.'s notes

- Jamie Oliver evidently developed this dish for his signature line of cookware from T-FAL. I made mine in a (non-T-FAL) stovetop grill pan, and it turned out just fine.

- The cool thing about this recipe is that it's all made in one pan and the different elements cook in the same amount of time, and their flavors combine in the process.

- The combination of white and green asparagus would have been pretty in this dish but I only had the green asparagus, so that's what I used. Similarly, I used just the red variety of cherry tomatoes.

- The recipe blithely instructs "wrap each bunch up in 3 slices of pancetta to form a neat bundle." I need some sort of diagram for the wrapping technique, since mine didn't start out neat and then came unwrapped as they cooked. I think I'd use prosciutto next time and anchor it somehow.

the verdict:

Even though my asparagus bundles were a bit unruly I enjoyed learning this technique of cooking the salmon and asparagus together. I prefer the taste of roasted asparagus to steamed, and the rosemary gave a lovely flavor as it roasted, making it especially appealing. We savored every bite of this dish and will definitely make it again.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh yum, asparagus is my spring obsession! I've had it just about every day for the past 2 weeks - I'm going to be very sad when the season ends. This recipe looks wonderful, I'll have to give it a shot sometime when Shane's not around :)

Karen said...

Your dish looks very delicious! It sounds like it's full of flavor - I love that about Jamie Oliver's recipes.

Kayte said...

Love that you get to make this all in one pan (and that it is not a casserole or something where all the ingredients are mushed together and look non-descript)...everything looks so fresh and nice. Can see this one being a bit hit around here for sure. Thanks.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Everuthing about this dish makes me want to head to my fishmongers for some salmon...It is the only thing missing in my kitchen.

Caro said...

What a springy, lovely looking dish. It makes me want to cook this. Thanks for sharing.

Jaime said...

i love roasted salmon!

Deb in Hawaii said...

This looks delicious--wonderful flavors and ingredients. Love that Jamie Oliver! ;-)

Cathy said...

I know I would fail on both the neat pancetta bundle front, and on the procuring white asparagus front. Happily, it sounds like the recipe will work out just wonderfully anyway. This looks incredible - perfect spring dinner right here!