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Bridget Jones's pan-fried salmon with pine nut salsa

Name: Bridget Jones's pan-fried salmon with pine nut salsa
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 100g currants; 4 (500g) salmon fillets (skin on), pin-boned; 100ml olive oil; 4 (180g) celery sticks, cut into 1cm dice, leaves removed but kept for garnish; 30g pine nuts, roughly chopped; 40g capers, plus 2 tbs brine; 40g (about 8) large green olives, pitted and cut into 1cm dice; 1 good pinch (1/4 tsp) saffron threads, mixed with 1 tbs hot water; 20g parsley, roughly chopped; 1 tsp each finely grated lemon zest and juice

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by Yotam Ottolenghi

Nov 01, 2018

“This is the dish Patrick Dempsey’s character tells Renée Zellweger’s Bridget Jones that he would have brought her on their imaginary second date in Bridget Jones’s Baby. ‘From Ottolenghi,’ says Dempsey, ‘delicious and healthy!’ And easy, we might add! What sounded like a bit of product placement on our part was, in fact, no such thing. The recipe didn’t even exist on our menu, so this is a retrospective acknowledgement” - Yotam Ottolenghi. This is an edited extract from Ottolenghi SIMPLE (Penguin Random House, RRP $49.99). On sale now.

100g currants
4 (500g) salmon fillets (skin on), pin-boned
100ml olive oil
4 (180g) celery sticks, cut into 1cm dice, leaves removed but kept for garnish
30g pine nuts, roughly chopped
40g capers, plus 2 tbs brine
40g (about 8) large green olives, pitted and cut into 1cm dice
1 good pinch (1/4 tsp) saffron threads, mixed with 1 tbs hot water
20g parsley, roughly chopped
1 tsp each finely grated lemon zest and juice

Method

1.

Cover the currants with boiling water and set aside to soak for 20 minutes while you prep the salmon and make the salsa.
2.

Mix the salmon with 2 tsp oil, 3 tsp salt and a good grind of pepper. Set aside while you make the salsa.
3.

Put 75ml olive oil into a large saute pan and place on a high heat. Add celery and pine nuts, and fry for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the nuts begin to brown (don’t take your eyes off them, as they can easily burn). Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the capers and brine, the olives, saffron and its water, and a pinch of salt. Drain the currants and add these, along with the parsley and lemon zest and juice. Set aside.
4.

Put the remaining 1 tbs oil into a large frying pan and place on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the salmon fillets, skin-side down, and fry for 3 minutes, until the skin is crisp. Reduce the heat to medium, then flip the fillets over and continue to fry for 2-4 minutes (depending on how much you like the salmon cooked). Remove from the pan and set aside.
5.

Arrange the salmon on four plates and spoon over the salsa. If you have any celery leaves reserved, scatter these over the top.