Gourmet at Home: Pan-Seared Salmon with Mint Pea Risotto Recipe
Gourmet at home – AND on a weeknight? It’s possible with this recipe! Add a little class to your protein-packed meals with this recipe from MasterChef Contestant Chef Jeff Philbin . Refreshing and zingy flavors of the risotto perfectly compliment the seared salmon for a deliciously healthy weeknight meal.
Now get that F.N. Sharp Chef's Knife and small cutting board ready to dice up some fennel and keep that paring knife handy for some scoring , and let's get to some gourmet cooking!
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Pan-Seared Salmon With Mint Pea Risotto
4 servings
Ingredients
Directions
Fill a small sized pot with the chicken stock and place on medium heat on a back burner of the stove. Fill another small pot with 3 cups of vegetable stock and ½ cup of frozen peas. Bring to a boil, until peas get soft. In a medium pan over medium heat, melt 2 tbsp of butter, and then add your risotto rice to “toast it.” Be sure to stir well so rice gets coated with melted butter. Dice ½ cup fennel. Add to pan with rice and butter. Stir well again. Set aside a few pinches of fennel fronds (the little hairs) for use in plating. Once rice and fennel begin to show a golden hue, add 1/3 cup of white wine to the pan (more on cooking with wine here ). Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir. When rice begins to become slightly sticky, begin adding one ladle of chicken stock at a time to the rice. Increase heat to medium-high, and be sure to stir and stir and stir as you add the stock! Remove pot with peas from heat and pour the entire contents of the pot into your blender. Add to blender: mint leaves (no stems!), 2 tbsp of butter, 1 tbsp of truffle oil, fresh lemon zest, and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Blend until smooth. Consistency should be almost creamy. Don’t forget to keep stirring your risotto! Add more chicken stock to keep the risotto creamy…you probably won’t end up using the entire pot of stock, and that’s ok. Using a paring knife, score the skin of each salmon fillet 3 times diagonally. Put a non-stick pan over medium heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter. Allow to melt down and combine. Season each fillet with salt and pepper on each side, and immediately place in the hot pan, skin-side down. Make sure to monitor the skin on the salmon so that it doesn’t stick or burn. Each fillet should be seared for about 4 minutes on the skin side. Take mint-pea puree from blender and begin to fold in to the risotto. Do this gradually, with stirring breaks in between. As you fold the puree into the risotto, add ½ cup of parmesan cheese to the pot as well. Once salmon skin is crisp, flip the fillet and allow it to cook for 2 more minutes. Plate the mint-pea risotto first, then place pan seared salmon on top. Garnish with fennel fronds, fresh lemon zest, and a squirt of lemon juice. Serve and enjoy!
