Slow-Roasted Salmon with Walnut-Olive Vinaigrette
This dish popped into my feed under the heading, “One of Food & Wine Magazine’s Most Popular Recipes of 2021.” The recipe tab sat open on my desktop for two weeks until “Aunt Lissa” was coming into town and I had the perfect occasion to prepare Slow-Roasted Salmon with Walnut-Olive Vinaigrette. Now, any of you planning Passover Seder or Easter dinner have the perfect main to serve!
I tend to cook my salmon “quick and high,” which translates to a short amount of time under high heat, whether it be via a conventional oven, broiler, grill, toaster oven or even air fryer (my newest salmon-cooking discovery). But this recipe has you cooking the fish, low and slow. The low heat paired with a basting of paprika-oil keeps the salmon super moist and the result is a perfectly cooked piece of fish. The Walnut-Olive Vinaigrette is more like a chunky tapenade and while it is super easy to make and can even be prepared in advance, I would say that in a pinch you could substitute your favorite jarred tapenade.
This is one of those recipes that once in your arsenal can be pulled off as a weeknight meal or trotted out to impress guests. As mentioned, it would be the perfect centerpiece of your holiday meal because it is basically hands-off at the time when you might be scrambling to finish things up and is just as good at room temperature as it is warm from the oven.
Bottom line, Slow-Roasted Salmon with Walnut-Olive Vinaigrette is super easy, impressive and delicious which is most definitely what catapulted it to the top of Food & Wine’s Best Of list. Enjoy!
Slow-Roasted Salmon with Walnut-Olive Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 3/4 c extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 1 Tbls smoked paprika
- 1 Tbls grated lemon zest, plus 3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 2.5 lb side of salmon skin on or off
- 2 3/4 tsp kosher salt divided
- 3/4 tsp black pepper divided
- 1/2 c finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1/4 c walnuts toasted and finely chopped
- 1/4 c Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 1/4 c pitted kalamata olives, chopped about 1/3 c
- 1/4 c pitted Castelvetrano olives, chopped about 1/3 c
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F with rack in middle position.
- Whisk together 1/2 cup oil and paprika in a small bowl. Set aside 1 tablespoon oil mixture; stir lemon zest and juice into remaining oil mixture in small bowl.
- Place salmon in a large baking dish; sprinkle both sides (if skin is removed or skinless side if not) with 2 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Tuck tapered end of salmon under if needed to fit in dish. Pour lemon-paprika mixture over salmon. Bake in preheated oven until thickest part of salmon flakes easily with a fork, 30 to 35 minutes, spooning lemon-paprika mixture in baking dish over salmon every 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let rest 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together parsley, walnuts, vinegar, olives, and remaining 1/4 cup oil in a small bowl. Season with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
- Using 2 large spatulas, carefully lift salmon from baking dish, and transfer to a large platter; discard remaining lemon-paprika mixture in baking dish. Spoon walnut-olive vinaigrette on salmon. Drizzle fish with reserved oil mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature.