Sometimes you just need a fancy meal. No good reason is necessary. And sometimes that meal turns out even better than you hoped for. Which brings me to…. Crab Stuffed Salmon.
Hubs had been craving seafood (which is pretty much every day) and Publix had crab BOGO – win, win.
Shopping List (serves 2):
- Salmon – 3/4 lb filet (skin on)
- Olive Oil
- Crab Meat – 4 oz (pick out the shell fragments)
- Garlic – 3 cloves, finely grated
- Boursin herbed cheese – 2 oz
- Shallot – 1, finely chopped
- Butter – 2 Tbsp
- Half and Half – 1/4 cup
- Panko Breadcrumbs – 1 cup, divided
- Fresh Basil, sliced thin – 2-3 leaves
- Frozen Cauliflower Florets – thawed
- Grated Parmesan Cheese – 1/3 cup
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375.
Toss cauliflower with a little olive oil, just enough to coat. Add 1/2 cup panko, salt and pepper until fully coated. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
Once the cauliflower gets going, drizzle olive oil over salmon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Par cook, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add garlic and shallot. Sauté until fragrant – about 2 minutes. Add crab meat and herbed cheese – mix constantly until combined. Remove from heat and slowly add half and half until fully incorporated.
Take your salmon out of the oven and carefully score the top with a knife. Spoon crab mixture over top. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs. Place salmon back in the oven and remove cauliflower.
Sprinkle 1/3 cup parmesan cheese over cauliflower and return to oven.
After 5 minutes, switch oven to broil. Keep an eye out as you don’t want to burn. My broiler only needed 2-3 minutes until everything was a lovely golden brown.
Transfer to 2 plates and top salmon with fresh basil.
Sit back and enjoy the beautiful sound of silence as your spouse devours your restaurant worthy creation and silently high fives himself for marrying someone that can knock out this culinary creation.
PS – I said skin on because it is puppy’s favorite treat. And it’s great for his coat 🙂
Sailing Marionette 