ChezCindy: Roasted Salmon Filled with Cheese & Pesto

 

I love an easy but elegant sheet pan dish for dinner.  This recipe is easy to make for a mid-week dinner and elegant enough to serve guests on the weekend.  The versatility of the recipe allows for a variety of cheese you have or prefer, such as goat, feta, or mozzarella.  You could also skip the pesto and simply fill the pocket with chopped fresh herbs.  The process remains the same for any filling ideas you may have such as canned, drained black beans, shredded cheddar cheese, and green onions.  

Roasted Salmon Filled with Cheese & Pesto

6 6-ounce salmon filets, center cut with skin
3 ounces cheese, crumbled (goat cheese, feta, or mozzarella)
2 tablespoons basil pesto sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

3 tablespoons chopped herbs, parsley and/or basil

Serves 6 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare a large sheet pan by lining it with foil. Set aside.  

Pat the salmon dry with paper towels.  Using a small sharp knife, cut a slit down the thick center of each salmon filet, not cutting through to the skin and stopping where the salmon thins, creating a pocket.  

Fill each salmon pocket with the crumbled cheese, placing each filled piece onto the prepared sheet pan, skin-side down.  Spoon about 1 teaspoon of pesto over the cheese.  Drizzle the oil over the salmon.  Evenly sprinkle the salmon with the salt.  Place the sheet pan into the hot oven, roasting the salmon for 8-10 minutes.  The salmon should be firm to the touch, an internal temperature of 125 degrees. 

Remove the sheet pan from the oven.  Slide a metal spatula between the salmon filet and the skin to lift and remove each piece of salmon onto a serving plate.  Top each fillet with the chopped tomatoes and herbs.    

ChezCindy: Mixed Berry Tart

 

This Mixed Berry Tart looks impressive, but it is actually quite easy to make.  I used my favorite pie dough recipe, but the rest is made with store bought ingredients.  

I most always have frozen discs of homemade pie dough in my freezer, making this tart come together very quickly one afternoon when I was craving a sweet treat.  The pie crust is baked and cooled.  Then fill it with your favorite jarred jam and add a mix of fresh berries.  Use the leftover pie dough when rolling out the crust to make cutouts for topping the berries.  A light sprinkle of powdered sugar and the tart is ready to serve!  

Mixed Berry Tart

1 pie dough for 12-inch crust, homemade or store bought

1 13-ounce jar of berry jam

2 pints blackberries, raspberries, and/or blueberries 

2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Recipe for Favorite Pie Dough  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Roll out the pie dough to 12 inches.  Place the dough into a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removeable bottom, fitting in the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  Cut off the excess dough saving the scraps to roll out for cut outs to top the finished pie.  Use a fork to prick the bottom of the dough.  Line the tart shell with a large sheet of foil, filling the pan with pie weights/beans.  Place the tart onto a sheet pan, placing it onto the bottom rack of the oven, baking the shell for 15 minutes.  Remove the sheet pan from the oven, carefully removing the foil along with the pie weights/beans.  Return to the oven baking for another 5 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.  Meanwhile roll out the scraps.  Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes of different sizes.  Place the cut outs onto a separate sheet pan and bake on the middle rack until lightly golden brown.  Set aside to cool.  

Once the baked pie crust is cool, spoon the berry jam evenly over the crust filling the tart.  Place the fresh mixed berries into the jam evenly spacing them as desired, lightly pressing into the jam.  Place the cooled cut out shapes over the jam and berries.  Lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Serve at room temperature.