Bridget Jones’s Pan-Fried Salmon with Pine Nut Salsa

By Leslie Blythe Fish, Nuts, Salmon, Seafood

March 18, 2019

This Pan-Fried Salmon with Pine Nut Salsa is what Patrick Dempsey’s character tells Renée Zellweger’s Bridget Jones that he would have brought her on their imaginary second date in Bridget Jones’s Baby. ‘From Ottolenghi,’ says Dempsey, ‘delicious and healthy!’ The recipe didn’t even exist on their menu. Ottolenghi put it is his cookbook called, Ottolenghi Simple. I actually do not like olives or capers, but I have to say, it is absolutely delicious. I am even going to make it again.

Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients

¾ cup currants

4 salmon fillets, skin on

7 tablespoons olive oil

4 celery sticks, cut into ½ inch dice, leaves removed but kept for garnish

¼ cup pine nuts, roughly chopped

 ¼ cup capers, plus 2 tablespoons of their brine 

8 large green olives, pitted and quartered

¼ teaspoons saffron threads, mixed with

1 tablespoon hot water

1 cup parsley, roughly chopped 

1 lemon: finely grate the zest to get 1 teaspoon, then juice to get 1 teaspoon

salt and black pepper

Directions

1Cover the currants with boiling water and set aside to soak for 20 minutes while you prep the salmon and make the salsa.

2Mix the salmon with 2 teaspoons of oil, 3 teaspoons of salt and a good grind of pepper. Set aside while you make the salsa.

3Put 5 tablespoons of olive oil into a large sauté pan and place on high heat. Add the celery and pine nuts and fry for 4 – 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the nuts begin to brown (don’t take your eyes off them, as they can easily burn). Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the capers and their brine, the olives, saffron and its water and a pinch of salt. Drain the currants and add these, along with the parsley, lemon zest and lemon juice. Set aside.

4Put the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil into a large frying pan and place on medium-high heat. Once hot, add the salmon fillets, skin side down, and fry for 3 minutes, until the skin is crisp. Reduce the heat to medium, then flip the fillets over and continue to fry for 2 – 4 minutes (depending on how much you like the salmon cooked). Remove from the pan and set aside.

5Arrange the salmon on four plates and spoon over the salsa. If you have any celery leaves reserved, scatter these on top.

Recipe adapted from Ottolenghi Simple, by Yotam Ottolenghi, October 16, 2018.

close full screen

00:00