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Crisp-Skin Salmon Fillets with Chimichurri Sauce

Strictly speaking, chimichurri is Argentinean, but there is far more salmon in Chile than elsewhere in Latin America, and chimichurri has become pan-continental. Keep the skin on the salmon (make sure it’s scaled), and making it perfectly crisp is nearly effortless as long as you use a nonstick skillet. I love this with Peasant-Style Potatoes (page 477) or Potatoes with Bay Leaves (page 481).

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 cup finely chopped (but not minced) fresh parsley leaves, preferably flat-leaf
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, or to taste
Salt to taste
Four 6-ounce salmon fillets, preferably cut from the center of a thick fillet, skin on and scaled

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine the parsley, 1/3 cup of the olive oil, the lemon juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a bowl and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and add more red pepper if you like (it should be quite hot). Let sit while you prepare the fish or up to a couple of hours.

    Step 2

    Preheat the oven to 500°F. Put the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet, preferably nonstick, and turn the heat to high. When the oil smokes, add the salmon, skin side down. Cook for about 30 seconds, shaking the pan once or twice to make sure the fillets don’t stick. Transfer to the oven and roast for 5 minutes or until the fish is medium-rare to medium.

    Step 3

    Sprinkle the top of the fish with salt and serve it with the sauce.

The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. Ā© 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved. MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.
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