Harissa salmon with roasted squash and bulgur wheat
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 4
Packed with veggies and full of flavour, Rukmini's baked salmon with roasted squash and bulgur is cooked completely in the oven – leaving you free to do other jobs! It looks really stunning, too, and would make a great dinner party dish without too much effort.
By Rukmini Iyer
From Saturday Kitchen
Ingredients
For the squash
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 6 green cardamom pods, seeds only
- 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2cm/¾in wedges
- 2 red onions, cut into quarters
- 5cm/2in piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
For the bulgur wheat
- 200g/7oz bulgur wheat, rinsed
- 400ml/14fl oz vegetable stock, just boiled
- 250g/9oz Tenderstem broccoli
- 15g/½oz fresh coriander, finely chopped
- ½ lime, zest and juice
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 200g/7oz pomegranate seeds
For the salmon
- 4 salmon fillets
- 1½ tbsp rose harissa paste
- 1 tbsp pine nuts, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ½ tsp sea salt flakes
For the dressing
- 60g/2¼oz tahini
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes, plus extra if preferred
- freshly ground black pepper
Method
To make the squash, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Use a pestle and mortar to crush the peppercorns and cardamom seeds to a consistency between coarse and fine.
Tip them into a roasting tin with the squash, onion, ginger, cumin, sugar, oil and salt and mix well to coat.
Roast on the top shelf of the oven for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, to make the bulgur wheat, mix together the bulgur wheat and vegetable stock in a small roasting tin. Add the broccoli, cover tightly with kitchen foil, then transfer to the lower shelf of the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, to make the salmon, line a baking tray with baking paper.
Place the salmon on the tray, skin-side down, and spread evenly with the harissa.
Mix the pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, breadcrumbs, oil and salt in a bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the salmon.
Cook the salmon in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the salmon is just cooked through.
To make the dressing, add the tahini, lemon juice, oil, 4 tablespoons of water, salt and a good grinding of black pepper to a jug and whisk really well. Add more water if needed until it has the consistency of single cream. Taste and season with more salt if needed.
Remove the bulgur wheat from the oven, leave to stand for 5 minutes, then fluff through with a fork. Stir through half of the coriander, the lime zest and juice, oil and half of the pomegranate seeds.
To serve, mix the bulgur mixture with the butternut squash mixture. Drizzle over the tahini dressing and scatter with the remaining pomegranate seeds and coriander. Serve with the salmon on top.
Recipe tips
You can swap the harissa for other pastes, such as curry paste or pesto to change the flavour.
