Baked Salmon Fillet with Spinach and White Wine Sauce

👨‍🍳 Method

To assemble

1. 1
   Pat the fish thoroughly dry with paper towels and sprinkle the paprika, salt and black pepper over the top.
2. 2
   Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
3. 3
   Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan over high heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan

   💡What you brown (meat, patties, schnitzel) goes into hot oil: in lukewarm oil it soaks it up and comes out greasy. For onion and garlic that you soften, oil heated over medium or low heat is enough; do not wait for it to smoke.
4. 4
   Lay the fish in the pan in a single layer and fry 2 minutes.

   StoveFrying pan
5. 5
   Flip gently and fry 2 minutes more.

   Stove
6. 6
   Transfer the fish to a baking pan.

   Baking pan
7. 7
   Bake 10–12 minutes, until the fish is done.

   ⚙ BakingOvenBaking pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
8. 8
   Meanwhile, in the same skillet, fry the shallot and garlic 3 minutes.

   Stove
9. 9
   Add the wine and cook 3 minutes, until it reduces.

   Stove
10. 10
    Add the cream and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer 3 minutes, until the sauce thickens.

    ⚙ SimmeringStove

    💡Cream thickens as its water evaporates: cook at a gentle simmer and stir, because a long, hard boil can make it split.

    💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
11. 11
    Add the spinach to the sauce and cook 2 minutes, until the spinach wilts.

    Stove
12. 12
    Season the sauce with the lemon juice.
13. 13
    Serve the fish on a bed of the spinach, with the sauce and the parsley.