Roasted Salmon on Asparagus with Pesto with homemade pesto

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Whole Roasted Fish

1. 1
   Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).

   Oven

   💡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.
2. 2
   Mix the olive oil, salt and black pepper.
3. 3
   Place the asparagus in the baking pan, pour half the seasoning over it and toss. Place the salmon on top.

   Baking pan
4. 4
   Brush the salmon with the rest of the seasoning.

   Pastry brush
5. 5
   Grind the leaves in a food processor with the nuts, garlic, salt and black pepper.

   Food processor

   💡In a food processor, grind in short pulses and check between pulses: it's easy to go from coarse to paste. (Sesame for tahini, on the other hand, is ground continuously.)
6. 6
   Add the Parmesan and grind.

   Food processor
7. 7
   Add the olive oil in a thin stream, while Tahini, until to a smooth sauce.

   Food processor

   💡Pesto keeps in the fridge about two weeks in a closed jar, covered with a layer of olive oil. The top layer darkens from the air, and that doesn't mean it has spoiled.

   💡The thin stream is everything: fat that goes in too fast can't bind, and the sauce breaks. For mayonnaise and hollandaise, if this happens, start with a fresh yolk and slowly add the broken sauce to it; if the sauce is too thick, thin it with a teaspoon of water.
8. 8
   Spread the pesto over the salmon.
9. 9
   Roast the salmon in a hot oven (200°C / 390°F) 15 minutes, until the salmon is cooked and flakes easily.

   OvenBaking pan

   💡A fillet is done when the flesh is opaque even in the thickest part and flakes when pressed with a fork; a few more minutes in the oven and it dries out.

   💡Give it room in the pan: crowded vegetables steam instead of browning.
10. 10
    Serve immediately with lemon slices.