I bet that salmon is probably not the first fish to come to mind when you think of Mediterranean seafood. Octopus, anchovies, bream, sardines, bonito, swordfish,. These all spring to mind before you think of salmon. So why write a post about Mediterranean Salmon with Spinach?
According to a UN report, salmon is the second most consumed fish in the world (after tuna). You may not be able to get fresh Mediterranean bonito or bream where you are. But there is a pretty good chance that your local market with carry salmon. Just because you can’t get Mediterranean fish where you live is no reason to not enjoy the flavors of the region. Give today’s recipe a try, and you may never go back to plain salmon again!
Why Mediterranean Salmon with Spinach?
How come salmon isn’t one of the first fish that you think of when you think of the Mediterranean? Because it is not native to the their sea. In fact, what salmon is there has is not native and there for purposes of aquaculture – salmon farming. As I’m sure you know by now — a hallmark of all Mediterranean cooking is keep it local. When the sea provides such a bountiful and various harvest, why would they import salmon. In recent years, it has become more available because of the impact of global travel and trade. But the traditional recipes don’t begin with salmon.
Why am I making a Mediterranean Salmon with Spinach? Well — because I want to. I also want to show you that you can adapt classical Mediterranean flavors to foods you have locally. The seed of this idea happened recently when we were having some friends over for dinner. I wanted to cook a nice Mediterranean style swordfish (which is common in the region). , But the price at my local fish monger astounded me. Salmon however is much more readily available and as such less expensive. So I thought this is a great opportunity to both economize and still use my favorite region’s flavors.
I was able to get a nice salmon fillet at my local Costco for not too much money. It meant I would have to break it down myself to prepare the portions. No stranger to cutting fish, that didn’t bother me at all. Let me quickly walk you through the process of going from a whole side of fish to 4 nice even trim portions. Plus a little bit extra for later!
If You Need To – You Can Break Down Your Own Salmon
Lay the fish out on a cutting board. A good sharp knife is in order here. I start by squaring up the two ends of the fish. At the head end, there is a rough curve where the gills once were. I like to find the deepest point in that curve and cut about one inch beyond that. Just make a nice straight edge with your knife.
Moving to the other end — the tail — it is a bit trickier. At the very end of the tail it is too narrow and thin to be a part of a dinner portion. I generally take the last three to four inches off the tail end. You want the “remaining” side of your cut to be big enough to be part of a dinner portion . Each fish is a little different as to how much that is. Use your best judgement and cut another straight edge.
Finally — we want to remove the “belly” of the fish. This is that thin part of the fish that runs along the bottom edge of your fillet. Again, it is really too thin to be a good part of your dinner portion. It will overcook before the thicker part of the fillet are done. So best remove it. Using your knife, find the spot right were fillet transitions into the belly. Beginning at one end, slice through the fish to remove the belly. Follow the general contours of the fish for a nice clean cut.
Alchemy – Turning Scraps Into (Food) Gold
When the fish scraps are done, pull them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. Next, with clean hands, begin pulling the meat away from the skin. Flake it as you go, and put it in a small bowl or plastic container. And now you have your own cooked salmon for salmon salad. Put in the refrigerator for up to three days (zero chance it is still uneaten by then). When you are ready — make yourself a fresh salmon salad for your lunch. Unsure about how you can turn it into a meal? Make it just like you would make your favorite tuna salad. Or better yet, try my Red Snapper Salad recipe, substituting the Salmond for the snapper. It’ll be the best salmon salad you’ve ever tasted!
It’s not necessary for Mediterranean Salmon with Spinach to buy you fish this way. Many grocery stores have pre-portioned salmon at the fish counter. Or they can portion it for you. There is also no reason that you can’t use frozen salmon pieces here, just be sure to let them thaw fully.
Do not throw away the three pieces of scrap you’ve just cut off. Time for a little kitchen magic. Preheat your oven to 350ºF/175ºC. While the oven preheats, get out a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Otherwise, spray liberally with cooking spray. Lay your three pieces of scraps out in the pan. Add some seasoning — I like kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and garlic powder — but you do you. Rub a small bit of extra virgin olive oil on each piece. Once the oven comes to temperature – pop it in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes.
Returning to the Mediterranean Salmon with Spinach
Back to our main dish. Now that your salmon is freshly trimmed salmon, it is time to convert it into portions for a meal. Portion are typically between four and six ounces. Personally, I try to stay closer to four, but there is no reason you can’t go larger. I like cutting the fish into portions before cooking. That’s because you get a much cleaner cut that presents better on the plate.
Before cutting into portions (but after trimming the scrap away) I weighed my piece of fish. It was 26.5 ounces. If I cut it to four portions, they would be 6.63 oz each. A bit big. Five portions would be 5.3 each. That’s a good size. Or six portions would be 4.42 ounces each. That is much closer to my target portion size. Of course you can go bigger if you like, but Im going for six portions at almost 4.5 ounces each.
To do that I cut the fillet in half (by eyeball), and then each half into three pieces. I need four for my recipe, so I will freeze the other two portions and use them in the future.
Mise en Place
At this point I like to preseason the fish. Sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Let rest while you prep the greens and the topping. For the spinach, wash it thoroughly and dry in a salad spinner. Cut a clove of garlic into thin slices. And set both aside — they cook quickly and are best prepared while the salmon is in the oven
Next prep all the ingredients for the topping. Combine the grape tomatoes, artichokes, capers, olives and half the parsley in a small bowl. Add about one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. As with most of my recipes, all the given quantities in the recipe are “about like that”. The Italians call it “quanto basta”, and idiom which roughly translates to “just enough”. It is an inprecise measurement common in Italian recipes. It epitomizes the spirit of Italian cooking specifically, and Mediterranean cooking in general. Bottom line – don’t get hung up on being too precise with your quantities.
One quick note- for the artichokes, if they come from a can I always take a few moments to prepare them this way. It really ups the flavor. It is not strictly necessary — but it is a step I always take.
To wrap up your prep, you’ll want to take a moment to prepare your cooking implements. You will need a heavy bottomed pan, preferably cast iron. Turn the pan on over medium high heat and let the pan get quite hot. You’ll also want to turn on your oven again to 350ºF/175ºC. Finally, prep a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
Searing Off the Salmon
Now it’s time to cook the Mediterranean Salmon with Spinach. I work with just one or two portions of the salmon at a time. Frankly, I prefer one at a time — but when I get behind, I “rush” and do two portions at a time. Spray your heated pan with cooking spray. Next spray the tops of your salmon portions with cooking spray. Yup – you heard that right. Spray the fish too.
Place your single fillet in the center of the pan, skin side up, and set a time for 2 minutes. Don’t touch the fish for the next two minutes. This step is important because it allows you to develop a nice browned crust on the surface of the fish. This is both visually appealing and helps deepen the flavors in the fish.
When the two minutes is up, gently slide a spatula underneath the fish, and lift it out of the pan. If it doesn’t want to come out — give it another half minute or so cooking. The food will ‘release’ from the pan when it is ready to – that is once the crust has fully developed. You want to be gently and not force it because you don’t want to tear the surface of the fish.
Take the seared salmon and place it on the baking sheet skin side down. Repeat the process with the remaining portions of fish. Once you have finished searing all the fish , divide the topping evenly on each portion of salmon. Any juice that remains in the bowl you want to hold back for use later.
Getting the Spinach Ready
When all you salmon is set and the topping is on — pop it in the oven and bake until cooked through. I start with about 15 minutes, but the exact time is less precise than that. It is largely dependent on how thick your portions are and how accurate your oven temperature is. The most accurate way to be sure your fish is done is by checking the temperature with a thermometer. You want the internal temperature in the thickest part of the portion to be 145ºF/63ºC.
While the fish is cooking, it’s time to focus on spinach. Spinach cooks quickly, so there is no need to do this any sooner. I use a pan with deeper sides, since the spinach takes up so much space when you first put it in the pan. I get the pan hot, then I turn it down to a medium heat since the spinach doesn’t need to sear, just wilt.
When the pan is at a good temperature, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Then add the chopped garlic and stir around until it just becomes fragrant – about 30 seconds. Then immediately add the spinach and toss around lightly. After that, let it sit for about a minute undisturbed. This allows it to begin heating through. At this point, gently start tossing the spinach around in the pan. You should begin to see it starting to wilt. When this happens, turn the heat off and continue to toss. Add a bit of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper at this point as well.
You want to be careful because the spinach can go from lightly wilted to pile of mush pretty quickly. You want it somewhere in between those two extremes. Take the pan completely off the heat if necessary.
Let’s Wrap Up Our Mediterranean Salmon with Spinach
We are in the home stretch now! We’re just about done preparing our Mediterranean Salmon with Spinach. These last few minutes before the salmon comes out is when you can be getting your plates ready. Take about one quarter of the wilted spinach and place just off center in each plate. Give it a quick sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt or kosher salt. When the salmon is done, gently lift each portion and place onto of the spinach. If any topping falls of — just spoon it up and replace it (unless it hit the floor). Drizzle a small amount of the residual juice from the topping over each portion. Finally garnish each salmon with a bit of the reserved parsley.
As I said above, I made this meal for dinner guests the other night. One guest said that she really liked how the artichokes and olives added a flavor interest to the overall dish. The other guest shared his impression that “we’d pay a lot of money in a restaurant for this meal.” For the record, including the asparagus side, I spent less than $6.00 per plate for the meal. So this can be economical too!
You can prepare the topping up to a day ahead. You can trim The fish can trim the fish and set aside up to day ahead. I’ve even cut and portion my salmon several day ahead. I then freeze the individual portions and thaw just before cooking. All this is a way to say — when the actual cooking time comes — this is pretty quick and simple. Make if for company where it comes together quickly but presents so elegantly. Or make it as a quick weeknight dinner for a change of pace. Either way — you want to try the Mediterranean Salmon with Spinach
Mediterranean Style Salmon with Spinach
Ingredients
Salmon
- 4 Salmon Fillets
- 1 cup grape/cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cup artichoke hearts quartered
- 2 TBS capers with liquid
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives halved
- 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil as needed
Spinach
- 1 Bunch Fresh Spinach, rinsed and trimmed or 9 oz Baby Spinach, rinsed
- 1 clove Garlic thinly sliced
Instructions
- Heat a cast iron pan to very hot
- Preheat oven to 425ºF
- Season Salmon Fillets with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper and coat with a bit of extra virgin olive oil
- Let rest while you prepare the topping
- In a medium work bowl, combine tomatoes, artichokes, capers, olives and about half the parsley with about 1TBS of extra virgin olive oil
- Taking each fillet in turn, spray top of fish with cooking spray and place skin side up in the cast iron pan. If possible, place a small weight on the top of the fillet
- Cook fillet for 2 minutes, or until a crisp golden crust has formed on the top of the fillet
- Remove fillet and place skin side down on the sheet pan coated with cooking spray
- Repeat procedure for remaining fillets
- When all fillets are done, spoon equal portions of tomato mixture over each fillet, retaining any juices produced
- Place in oven and bake until fish reaches and internal temperature of 135ºF – 140ºF
- While Salmon cooks, heat a large pan to medium high heat
- Add 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
- Add rinsed spinach and allow to sit for about a minute
- Gently stir as it begins to wilt
- Remove from heat when it has reduced by two thirds volume
- Add about 1/4 of wilted spinach to each plate
- Remove salmon from oven and plate on top of spinach. Pour spoon full of retained juices over each plated fillet and garnish with remaining parsley
