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

By YOTAM OTTOLENGHI

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This is the dish Patrick Dempsey’s character tells Renée Zellweger’s that he would have brought her on their imaginary second date in ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’.

SERVES

TO

35 Mins

Ingredients

3/4 cup currants
4 salmon fillets, skin on and pinbones removed (500 grams)
7 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and black pepper
4 medium celery stalks, cut into 1 centimeter dice (1 3/4 cups/180 grams), leaves removed but kept for garnish
1/4 cup pine nuts, roughly chopped
1/4 cup capers, plus 2 tablespoons of their brine
1/3 cup large green olives, pitted and cut into 1 centimeter dice (about 8)
1 good pinch (1/4 teaspoon) of saffron threads, mixed with 1 tablespoon hot water
1 cup parsley, roughly chopped
1 lemon: finely zest to get 1 teaspoon, then juice to get 1 teaspoon

Directions

Cover the currants with boiling water and set aside to soak for 20 minutes while you prep the salmon and make the salsa.
Mix the salmon with one tablespoon of the oil, a rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a good grind of pepper. Set aside while you make the salsa.
Put five tablespoons of the olive oil into a large sauté pan and place on a high heat. Add the celery and pine nuts and fry for four to five 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 their brine, the olives, saffron and its water, and a pinch of salt. Drain the currants and add these, along with the parsley, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Set aside.
Put the remaining tablespoon of oil into a large frying pan and place over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the salmon fillets, skin side down, and fry for three minutes, until the skin is crisp. Decrease the heat to medium, then flip the fillets over and continue to fry for two to four minutes (depending on how much you like the salmon cooked). Remove from the pan and set aside.
Arrange the salmon on four plates and spoon on the salsa. Scatter the celery leaves on top.