Roast salmon with craquelin pastry topping
By:
Katy McClelland
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Published: 16 Mar 21
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Updated: 18 Mar 24
This quick and easy roast salmon takes just 35 minutes. The secret to its success is its light, crisp, savoury craquelin pastry topping.
Alternatively, go for a traditional salmon en croûte as your Sunday centrepiece or Easter lunch, or perhaps one of these showstopping salmon recipes.
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Serves 6
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Hands-on time 15 min, oven time 20 min
Ingredients
- 1 side sustainable salmon (about 1.4kg), at room temperature
- 6 bay leaves, plus extra to serve
- Juice ½ lemon, plus extra wedges for squeezing, if you like
For the craquelin
- 60g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 30g demerara sugar
- 2 tsp smoked sea salt flakes, plus extra to serve (we used Maldon, from larger supermarkets)
- 2 blades mace, ground using a pestle and mortar (or a little freshly grated nutmeg)
- ½ tsp pul biber (aleppo pepper) or ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, plus extra to serve, if you like
- 1 fat garlic clove, crushed
- 2 tsp chopped fresh lemon thyme leaves (or regular thyme leaves), plus extra sprigs to serve
- 50g plain flour
You’ll also need
- Electric hand mixer
- Baking tray lined with compostable baking paper
Method
- Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7. To make the craquelin, beat the butter and sugar in a small bowl using an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the salt, ground mace (or nutmeg), pul biber/cayenne, garlic, thyme and flour until mixed and spreadable (see Make Ahead).
- Put the salmon on the lined tray skin-side down. Spread the craquelin over the top of the fish using the back of a spoon, then add bay leaves and some extra thyme sprigs. Bake for 20 minutes until the top is golden and the fish is just cooked through.
- Sprinkle with a little extra smoked salt and the lemon juice, then scatter with the extra bay leaves and thyme sprigs and add a dusting of aleppo pepper or cayenne, if you like. Serve with seasonal veg, new potatoes and lemon wedges (optional).
Recipe from March 2021 Issue
Nutrition
Nutrition: per serving
- Calories
- 635kcals
- Fat
- 43.4g (11.7g saturated)
- Protein
- 48.6g
- Carbohydrates
- 11.9g (5.1g sugars)
- Fibre
- 1.1g
- Salt
- 1.9g
delicious. tips
Use it up: Flake leftover salmon, then freeze in a bag or food storage box in a thin layer (so it’s easy to break off little bits). Fry straight from frozen in a splash of oil over a high heat for around 5 minutes until crispy. Reduce the heat to medium to cook through for 2-5 minutes more, making sure it’s heated through. Stir into rice or pasta or serve with a squeeze of lemon and mayo on rye/sourdough toast.
Make the craquelin topping up to a day ahead, cover and chill, then remove from the fridge 30 minutes before using so it becomes spreadable.
Craquelin is a sweet pastry that’s often used to top profiteroles. This savoury version gives a light, crispy topping to the salmon.