Wild Salmon With Fennel and Pistachios Recipe (2024)

What’s a good substitute for fennel in this recipe?

This was excellent & pretty easy. Got 1lb fresh sockeye & planned to cut everything in half. Used 4full recipe 4 Tbl of butter as it didn’t seem that, with only 1 fennel bulb, there was enough to get that rich flavor. Also sliced around the core after wasn’t able to do conventional slices since wanted as much of the fennel as possible. If using fresh sockeye, will do 15 min vs 20 min used this 1st time.I also served salt & peppered tomato wedges with fennel fronds over the top. Delish.

Fennel.

Why this could not be done in a frying pan is beyond me

Skip instruction #3—overly complicated, entirely unnecessary and just creating additional dishes to wash. Just make the sauce while the salmon is cooking and be ready to pour it on at the end. Also, don't add the pistachios to the sauce—they become soggy. Instead, add them on top of the salmon for the last 5 minutes or so of cooking to keep them crisp for a nice contrast in texture and for a sauce that tastes better.

I think you could remove the pan from the oven, tent it, and then make the sauce. It would only be a couple minutes. That way the oven door stays closed and the fish would stay warm enough.

Try it both ways and let us know.

This was cool, and the wild salmon comes out perfectly delicate. The pistachios and white wine have sort of a sour and sweet taste — which I can’t decide if I needed or even liked that much. They sort of tasted like raisins or a sweet chutney. All in all, so unique!

Spring to summer

As others have mentioned, it’s sort of bizarre that the pistachios are sautéed in liquid. They just get kind of soggy and lose their flavor and crunch. Next time I would add them at the end.

Can I make this recipe with an alternative fish, maybe something more mild than is salmon?

This was pretty good served with jasmine rice!

My family has been getting a little tired of grilled salmon. So, I made this last night in an effort to shake things up a little, but still provide a healthy and affordable fish dish. Everyone loved it! Like several others, I skipped step 3 and made the sauce in a pot while the fish was cooking. I also used about 2 T of butter instead of 4. Definitely will be making this again!

I had high expectations for this recipe, which combines a few great ingredients in one pan. But everything seemed slightly overcooked and similar in texture. The flavors of fennel and salmon weren’t distinct. The pistachios got soggy in the sauce. The salmon was perfectly cooked, it was the other elements that didn’t match expectations.

This was delicious and far exceeded expectations. I followed the recipe to a T other than adding some sliced carrots to the fennel bulb slices. highly recommend!

Did the recipe exactly as written and was very pleased - and surprised that so much flavor comes through with a few simple ingredients. The technique of placing the salmon in a 500-degree oven (that is then reduced to 225) was new to me, but it resulted in the closest I've ever gotten to a perfectly cooked piece of fish! I'd recommend steaks rather than filets if you want to keep a rarer center.

Skip instruction #3—overly complicated, entirely unnecessary and just creating additional dishes to wash. Just make the sauce while the salmon is cooking and be ready to pour it on at the end. Also, don't add the pistachios to the sauce—they become soggy. Instead, add them on top of the salmon for the last 5 minutes or so of cooking to keep them crisp for a nice contrast in texture and for a sauce that tastes better.

This oven method at 15 mins overcooked my fairly standard sockeye fillet pretty severely. My oven must cool down slower than most. The flavors were A+ but next time I would follow a more standard cook process for the salmon.

Love this recipe! Made some changes 4 2nd time made. Used mandolin 2 slice fennel 1/8 “ & then roasted w/ EVOO in 400 degree oven for 30 min (kept warm in off oven)-turn 2x. Decided couldn’t replicate roasted flavor in pan. @ 20 min, started salmon in pan. Cooked 4 min/side. Placed on plate w/wok cover (no need 2 waste alum foil). Cooked sauce as directed. Put sauce over both salmon & fennel. Delish!Not as easy as all pan but easier than original recipe.

This worked beautifully with regular salmon. I put the salmon on a large bed of fennel (needed more than 1 TBSP of butter to coat it all and I did this part stove-top) and topped the finished salmon (still in the skillet) with the sauce as written and served. Delicious.

More efficient to do on the stovetop and eliminate the oven method (especially with a thick piece of fish); chance to crisp the fish skin for better texture contrast. Served alongside couscous.

Excellent. Used leek and fennel and substituted macadamia nuts for pistachios. Used 1/2 tsp lemon juice per notes from other reviewers, grated lime zest in. Used the oven cooking directions, but think would be easier in skillet on stove. The wine deglazes the pan and only takes a few minutes; fish stayed warm. Didn't need all the butter in the deglazing step. While fish cooked, I toasted macadamians plus salt on the stove; added these after pouring wine sauce on fish.

I'm not a huge fan of substitution when I'm making a recipe for the first time but I have leaks on hand. Were they working instead of the fennel? I'm thinking maybe just put the salmon in the oven on top of the leeks without sauteing them first. Thoughts?