easy grilled salmon on thai pesto noodles

This is one of those simple and delicious meals to whip up for a week night supper. The Thai pesto is from Pesto Princess – a local brand of delicious and super convenient fresh pesto’s and I am never without a few jars at hand. I store them in the freezer until I need them for those emergency supper moments when I haven’t done any planning but feel like something delicious. This happens all the time. The Thai pesto is made from coriander (cilantro) and cashew nuts so I think it lends itself better to noodles vs pasta, but really either will do. 

The salmon is marinated in soy, ginger, and chilli and then quickly pan-fried to the level that you like. For me it must be a little pink on the inside but cooked through enough to flake. I’ve cut the salmon into large cubes which shortens the cooking time even further and allows for more surface area for caramelisation. There is such a fine line when cooking fish. As soon as you step over the mark, it loses so much moisture, so if anything I would err on the side of caution and rather go a smidge undercooked. Fresh coriander adds the last flurry of herbaceousness and Bobs your uncle, a super healthy supper is served in minutes. Apart from the time, it takes to marinate the fish of course, but I’m sure you are way better than me at planning these things.

If you are not from South Africa and don’t have access to Pesto Princess Thai pesto, hopefully wherever you live you have a brand of pesto that you like and they have a cilantro / coriander version. Otherwise, a quick Google across your favourite sites and you will be sure to find a delicious recipe to make your own. It really is so easy. 

Basil Pesto is also lovely with salmon so that could be a plan B.

Recipe – serves 2 (I developed this recipe for the Pesto Princess newsletter last year)

Grilled salmon on cilantro pesto noodles

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 200 g – 300g salmon fillets skinned, pin boned and cut into large chunks (or keep whole)
• 2 Tbsp soy
• 1/2 t sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped chilli or ¼ t dried chilli flakes optional
• ½ grated ginger
• 1 Tbsp sunflower oil to fry
• 200 g egg noodles
• 3 Tbsp Pesto Princess Thai Pesto or any other coriander pesto
• Lemon or lime to spritz
• Fresh coriander to garnish

Instructions

• Mix the soy, sesame oil, chilli and ginger together and coat this over the salmon. Allow this to marinate for about ½ an hour.
• Heat the oil in a non stick frying pan and fry the salmon cubes on each side until just cooked through. Or, if you prefer these a little rare, leave them raw on the inside.
• Cook the noodles according to the manufacturers instructions, drain and toss in the pesto.
• Top the noodles with the salmon, spritz with lemon or lime an dgarnish with fresh coriander leaves.

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