Jamie's Salmon Baked in a Foil Parcel With Green Beans and Pesto

For anybody who follows this blog, you may have noticed that fish recipes aren't too plentiful. I used to love fresh fish and regularly when eating out fish was often my dish of choice. However, I was somewhat put off fish last summer. I was in the early stages of pregnancy and my father was recommended a new diet for his psoriasis, which included a lot of fish. If you have been pregnant and experienced morning sickness you may agree with me that the horrible feeling of nausea to certain aromas, even post-pregnancy, can be quite severe. Unfortunately, I have been avoiding fish for the past year until I was recently served it at a friend's house and the nausea boundary was broken. Since then, fish is back on the menu. As we all know, fish is a real 'superfood' boasting many nutrients, such as essential fatty acids.  

This recipe is from Jamie’s Ministry of Food by Jamie Oliver. I am a huge fan of Jamie and have tried out many of his recipes from his various books. Jamie claims that with this book anybody could be taught to cook in 24 hours. I would recommend it to anyone who thinks they are unable to cook or else anybody who likes quick, easy and delicious recipes. This book is packed with so many great recipes, it is one of my favourite cookbooks.

This fish dish is so simple to put together – a portion of salmon, a handful of green beans, a dollop of good-quality pesto and a little squeeze of lemon juice. Such a great combination. It's lovely with rice, or new potatoes, or crusty bread. For a dinner party, feel free to use a whole fillet of salmon and treat it exactly the same way, just cook it for twice as long – it will look very dramatic when you open up the parcel at the table.

Salmon Baked in a Foil Parcel With Green Beans & Pesto

Ingredients

2 handfuls of green beans
1 lemon
2x 200g salmon fillets, skin on, scaled, bones removed
2 heaped tbsp green pesto
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat your oven to fan 200ºC/220ºC/gas mark 6.
2. Trim your beans by cutting off the stalk ends but leave the wispy tips on.
3. Halve one of the lemons.
4. Cut just under a metre of kitchen foil and fold it in half to give you two layers.
5. Put a handful of green beans in the middle of the foil
6. Lay a salmon fillet, skin side down, across the beans and spoon over a good tablespoon of green pesto.
7. Drizzle with olive oil, squeeze over the juice from one of the lemon halves and season with salt and pepper.
8. Put the foil edges together and scrunch them up to seal the parcel.
9. Repeat these steps to make your second salmon fillet parcel and place both foil parcels on a baking tray.
10. Place the baking tray into your hot oven and cook for 15 minutes.
11. Remove the tray from the oven and let it stand for a minute before carefully unwrapping and checking that the salmon is cooked through.
12. Either serve the foil parcels on plates as they are, or carefully unwrap them before serving.