Sheet-Pan Roasted Salmon With Pea Pesto
Peas, one of the highlights of spring produce, make for a delightfully sweet and bright pesto. Lemon juice, garlic, basil and almonds join the peas as they are blitzed with olive oil, creating a creamy pesto paste. Fresh peas can be used, but frozen peas work especially well, so use what's left in that bag in the back of your freezer. Feel free to swap the almonds for a different nut or the basil for different herbs, and add grated Parmesan if you like. Pea pesto is particularly delicious drizzled on this simple, easy meal of roasted salmon and potatoes, which cooks in the oven while you make the pesto. Feel free to use any extra pea pesto on, well, everything.
- Preparation:
- Cooking:
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- 1 ½pounds fingerling or baby potatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
- 1cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 4(6-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets
- ½cup fresh or frozen green peas
- ⅓cup roasted almonds
- 4garlic cloves
- 1cup packed fresh basil leaves
- ½cup lemon juice (from 2 to 3 lemons)
Instructions
Step 1
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Add potatoes and 1/4 cup of the oil. Toss to coat, then season generously with salt and pepper. Arrange potatoes cut-sides down, leaving room for the salmon. Roast potatoes for 20 minutes, until almost cooked through.Step 2
Meanwhile, pat salmon fillets dry and season with salt. Set aside.Step 3
While the potatoes roast, prepare the pea pesto: Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small pot. Boil peas for 5 minutes, then strain and immediately rinse with cold water to cool; drain well.Step 4
In a food processor, pulse almonds until coarsely chopped, scraping the sides of the food processor as you go. Add garlic and 1/2 cup olive oil, continuing to pulse until garlic is finely chopped. Add drained peas, basil and lemon juice and pulse until a smooth paste forms. Pour the pesto into a bowl. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, and salt to taste.Step 5
Add the salmon to the sheet pan skin-side down. Check potatoes and flip any over that are plenty browned. Continue roasting until salmon is opaque and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Serve immediately with the pea pesto drizzled on top of the salmon and potatoes.