| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 50 min |
| Active: | 50 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 large bulb fennel (about 1 pound), cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lowfat plain Greek yogurt, such as Fage
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus for the cooking water
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Four 6-ounce skinless center-cut salmon fillets
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup chopped fennel fronds
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 3 tablespoons Crispy Capers, recipe follows
- Lemon wedges, optional
- 3 tablespoons capers, drained, rinsed and dried very well
- Vegetable oil, for shallow frying
Instructions
- For the fennel: In a medium saucepan, cover the fennel with cold salted water. Place over high heat, bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer. Cook until very tender, about 10 minutes. Drain well and place in a food processor. Add the olive oil, yogurt and salt. Puree until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- For the salmon: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the salmon fillets with the salt. Place the fillets in the pan, flesh-side down, and sear undisturbed for 3 to 4 minutes to create a golden brown crust. Gently flip, and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Salad: In a small bowl, mix together the chopped fennel fronds and parsley and the crispy capers.
- To plate, spread a little of the fennel puree on each of 4 plates. Top with a salmon fillet. Place a little salad on top of each salmon. Squeeze a bit of lemon over the top if desired. Serve immediately.
- Heat 1/4-inch vegetable oil in a small, straight-sided skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers when swirled. (You can make sure the oil is hot enough by adding one caper to the oil; if it immediately starts to sizzle and pop, the oil is hot enough.) Add the capers to the hot oil and fry until they have popped open and turned golden brown and crispy, about 1 minute. With a slotted spoon, remove the capers to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 588 |
| Total Fat | 45 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 10 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
| Protein | 37 g |
| Cholesterol | 94 mg |
| Sodium | 765 mg |
Reviews
Simple, easy to make but what an elegant presentation! Added a dash of Pernod and stirred into the purée, the caper parsley salad topping is a must as the crispy salty bite and herby taste of parsley offsets the smooth almost sweet fennel purée and sweetness of the salmon. Made it for Christmas Eve dinner with friends and it was a hit!
This a treat for me to find. This was my first recipe using fennel from my garden. I won’t be giving it away next year. I am in Alaska so I have plenty of fresh red salmon this time of year. I was a new adventure for my taste buds. I could get enough. I will try to control myself next time. Thank you from someone that was getting a little tired of plan old recipes for salmon. And I will be trying the fennel puree with other meats. After a long day in the garden this made my day.
It is so good!!! High end restaurant quality!! Puree is easy to make and delicious!! I used Vitamix Blender instead of a food processor to puree and it turned out fine but probably more airy. The fried capers and the fennel fronds adds to the finishing. I didn’t have parsley and left that out. I will make this again!!
Made only the fennel puree (use with a recipe for roasted salmon in parchment paper which had capers as one of its ingredient). The fennel puree has very good flavor, easy to make. Would definitely make the puree again and also will try the Giada’s accompanying fennel frond, parsley caper “salad”.
What an awesome dish! I made this for my wife, who prefers all things from cloven-hoofed mammals. Fish should stay in lakes, rivers and oceans. I finally got her to like some recipes for tilapia and trout, but only if said recipes strongly overpower the fish. I served this with a simple romaine lettuce salad with light vinaigrette. She said this was restaurant quality and wanted to know when we would have it again. I love salmon, so thank you Giada!!!
An amazingly easy, yet simply delicious meal; family and guests loved it!!! I will be making this again and again.
I made this salmon, along with the fennel citrus salad from the same show and it was amazing! It was pretty easy to make. It only took me a little over an hour from start to finish to make the puree, salmon, and salad. The puree was so simple, but unbelievably delicious! This is just the kind of delicious, but nutritious meal I am always searching for.