Baked Salmon with Fennel & Lemon
Flaky, soft baked salmon with roasted fennel and lemon, topped with fresh mediterranean flavours of olives, capers, dill, crispy garlic and pistachios is effortlessly easy, healthy, yummy and quick. How good.
Baked Salmon with Fennel & Lemon
Baked Salmon with Fennel & Lemon
Baked Salmon with Fennel & Lemon
What I love about this baked salmon with fennel and lemon recipe, is that it’s a dish you can throw together on a weeknight, but it’s also fancy enough to serve to guests if you’re entertaining.
Salmon, fennel and lemon are like three best friends hangin out. They just effortlessly click, the flavours are perfectly matched. Add a gremolata of garlic, olives, capers, pistachios and herbs, and you’ve got a real party.
If you can’t find a large piece of salmon, swap for individual fillets, one fillet per person is good. For a heartier meal, you could serve this with some Roast Potatoes or to keep it on the lighter side, this Bloody Mary Tomato Salad works bloody well.
In terms of a flavour match, there aren’t too many options however to bake with, I would use either ½ a leek or even a bunch of fresh asparagus! For the portion served raw, I would suggest sliced cucumber to give a fresh crunch.
Perfectly baked salmon should have an internal temperature of about 63 F 145 F for soft flaky salmon texture. To know if your salmon is cooked you could use an internal thermometer or see if the flesh begins to flake apart.
Opt for wild caught salmon if you can. There’s generally a higher nutritional value, it has a better texture, is better tasting, free of chemicals, and there’s no artificial colouring.
Ingredients and substitutions
How to make it - step by step!
Preheat the oven to 200 C / 350 F. Cut the fennel in half then slice one half into 5mm pieces. Slice the other half into finer shavings. Slice one of the lemons into rounds, line a tray with baking paper then lay over the sliced lemon, the 5mm cut fennel.
Place salmon over the top, then drizzle everything with a little olive oil and season salmon with salt and pepper.
Bake for 15 minutes then turn the oven to grill, on the highest heat and bake for another 4-5 minutes to crisp up the top
Meanwhile, In a small frypan, add 2 tbsp of olive oil, garlic and pistachios, fry until browned and crispy, place of paper towel to drain.
Meanwhile combine dill, parsley, capers, olives, zest and juice of the remaining lemon, ¼ cup of olive oil, salt, pepper, stir to combine in a little bowl to combine.
Serve baked salmon, fennel and lemon onto plates, top with finely shaved fennel, dressing and crispy garlic and pistachios. Scatter over fennel tops and serve alongside some rocket/arugula.
Preheat the oven to 200 C / 350 F. Cut the fennel in half then slice one half into 5mm pieces. Slice the other half into finer shavings. Slice one of the lemons into rounds, line a tray with baking paper then lay over the sliced lemon, the 5mm cut fennel.
Place salmon over the top, then drizzle everything with a little olive oil and season salmon with salt and pepper.
Bake for 15 minutes then turn the oven to grill, on the highest heat and bake for another 4-5 minutes to crisp up the top
Meanwhile, In a small frypan, add 2 tbsp of olive oil, garlic and pistachios, fry until browned and crispy, place of paper towel to drain.
Meanwhile combine dill, parsley, capers, olives, zest and juice of the remaining lemon, ¼ cup of olive oil, salt, pepper, stir to combine in a little bowl to combine.
Serve baked salmon, fennel and lemon onto plates, top with finely shaved fennel, dressing and crispy garlic and pistachios. Scatter over fennel tops and serve alongside some rocket/arugula.
Watch the how to video
Watch the how to video
Baked Salmon with Fennel & Lemon
- 800g fillet of salmon (or 4 salmon fillets)
- 2 lemons
- 1 large fennel
- 1 tbsp fresh dill
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
- ¼ cup baby capers
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- Good pinch of salt
- Good pinch of pepper
- 3 - 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1/2 cup pistachio, chopped
- ½ cup Sicilian olives, pitted. Some chopped, some whole.
- Preheat the oven to 200 C / 390 F. Cut the fennel in half then slice one half into 5mm pieces. Slice the other half into finer shavings (for topping later). Slice one of the lemons into rounds 5 mm thick
- line a tray with baking paper then lay over the sliced lemon and the 5mm cut fennel. Place salmon over the top, then drizzle everything with a little olive oil and season salmon with salt and pepper
- Bake for 15 minutes then turn the oven to grill, on the highest heat and bake for another 6-8 minutes to crisp up the top
- Meanwhile, In a small frypan, add 2 tbsp of olive oil and garlic fry for about 1 minute (or until just starting to brown), then add pistachios and a small pinch of salt, fry until browned and crispy, place of paper towel to drain
- Meanwhile combine fennel, dill, parsley, capers, olives, zest and juice of the remaining lemon, ¼ cup of olive oil, stir to combine in a little bowl to combine
- Serve baked salmon, fennel and lemon either straight in the tray, or onto plates or a large platter (you’ll need a big spatula to transfer from the baking tray), top with finely shaved fennel and olive dressing, crispy garlic and pistachios. Scatter over fennel tops and extra dill.