Whole roasted Salmon

Whole roasted salmon with lemon and herbs recipe

Whole salmon

Serves 8 Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • Glug of olive oil
  • 1 fennel bulb, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 1 medium white onion, peeled and sliced
  • 14 new potatoes, scrubbed but unpeeled, halved lengthways
  • ½ bunch curly parsley
  • ½ bunch tarragon
  • ½ bunch dill
  • 1 unwaxed lemon
  • 1 x 2.5kg whole salmon, skin on, gutted
  • 125ml white wine

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7.
  2. Place a large sheet of tin foil (large enough to wrap the fish loosely) in a large baking tray. Drizzle a good glug of olive oil over the foil.
  3. Place the sliced fennel, garlic, onion and potatoes in a bowl, season well, spread out on the foil, then toss them in the oil.
  4. Take half of the herbs and chop them roughly. Grate the zest of the lemon and chop this through the herb mixture.
  5. Make some slashes though the skin of the salmon and stuff the slashes with the herb mixture. Slice the zested lemon and stuff the cavity of the fish with the lemon slices and the rest of the herbs.  6. Set the fish on the vegetables in the tray, season, then pour in the wine. Bring up and seal the edges of the foil to make a loose tent around the salmon.  7. Roast for 15 minutes then turn the heat down to 200C/180C fan/Gas 6 and continue with the roasting for another 30 minutes.
  6. To check if the salmon is done, use a skewer to pierce the thickest part of the fish, by the head. Place the skewer to touch your lips – if it is warm, the salmon is cooked. Return to the oven if not, and cook for a further 10 or 15 minutes.
  7. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.