Salmon with chorizo and tomatoes is a delightful recipe from Jamie Oliver so you know it will be good! I first saw it on his Quick and Easy Food show which features recipes with five ingredients plus a few pantry staples. This recipe caught our eye right away. Not only do the flavors work well together, there’s a lot of color going on!
Get to know Spanish chorizo
You’ll want to purchase Spanish or Portuguese style chorizo to make this recipe. It’s a cured sausage loaded with smoky paprika and spices. You’re most likely to see the cured chorizos but they also sell a fresh style that’s great for cooking. Either one will work but you’ll probably like the fresh chorizo better. Palacios is a well known brand sold in the US where there are strict rules regarding import. Go ahead and buy the “hot” chorizo. It has bite but it’s not as hot as other sausages.
We bought the salmon from the fishmonger. She cut it into four servings about 3 ounces each and offered to take the skin off. I declined because Jamie is all about the crispy salmon skin.
photo from PIXABAY
This time of year I was happy to find cherry tomatoes on the vine. Sometimes I can purchase pack of multicolored cherry tomatoes which would add even more color to the plate.
Salmon with chorizo and tomatoes is very typical of what I’ve come to love about Jamie Oliver recipes. It’s flavorful, fun to cook and since only on pan is involved, easy to clean up.
His technique for cooking the salmon is interesting. He places the salmon skin side up in a cold pan and after the pan begins to warm flips it skin side down to finish and crisp the skin. It’s not a bad technique. I did two Jamie’s way and the other two the traditional way since the pan was well heated when it was their turn to cook. My instructions give the second method. I get a nice crispy skin both ways, and I’m not above turning the salmon more than once if necessary. I have a nice wide spatula that helps me make the turns without breaking the fish.
Ingredients
- 4 servings salmon fillets between 3 - 4 ounces each, pull the small pin bones if necessary
- 1 ounce Spanish style chorizo, thinly sliced (or more)
- 2 generous handfuls of cherry tomatoes cut in half
- a handful of basil leaves, roughly torn reserve a few leaves for garnish
- olive oil
- red wine vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the tomato halves in a large bowl and season them with salt, pepper and a splash of red wine vinegar. Toss in most of the torn basil leaves and combine. Set aside.
- Rub the salmon fillets all over with a small amount of olive oil and season on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large skillet to medium high. Place the fillets skin side down and cook, undisturbed, for several minutes. You will see the color change on the side of the fillets.
- Carefully turn so the skin side is up and finish cooking.
- Remove to a plate and hold or, if there's room in the skillet, turn the fillets right side up and move them to the sides.
- Stir fry the chorizo for a minute or two to allow the fats to release from the pieces. Toss in the tomatoes and basil. Stir to combine. Cook long enough to warm the tomatoes through.
- To serve, arrange the fillets on a plate and spoon the tomatoes, basil and chorizo around. Chop some of the remaining basil leaves and sprinkle over top.
The tomatoes and chorizo by themselves make a nice side dish. The red wine vinegar combines with the rendered oils and juice in the pan to make a little sauce. By itself this makes a nice low carb meal or it can be made more substantial with the addition of some rice.
More seafood recipes:
As you may recall, I’ve been participating in a Pinterest Challenge, hosted by My Pinterventures. The purpose of this challenge is to actually make something from one of the pins we’ve curated. In previous challenges I’ve featured recipes from blogging friends. This month I was inspired by a Jamie binge watching session to remember a pin.
I hope you’ll take the time to browse the link up below. You’ll find other recipes, crafts and DIY projects.
Now let’s see what other things Pinterest inspired! Head over and visit the other hosts to see what they crafted, cooked, built, or tried!
Erlene – My Pinterventures • Jenny – Cookies Coffee and Crafts
Debbee – Debbee’s Buzz • Laurie – My Husband Has Too Many Hobbies
Julie – Sum of their Stories • Lynne – My Family Thyme
Lisa – Blogghetti • T’onna – Sew Crafty Crochet
Beverly – Across the Boulevard • Debra – Shoppe No. 5
Roseann – This Autoimmune Life • Terri – Our Good Life
Kelley – Simply Inspired Meals • Joanne – Our Unschooling Journey
Toni –Girl, Just DIY!• Gail – Purple Hues and Me
Kristie – Teadoddles • Marie – The Inspiration Vault
Lydia – Lydia’s Flexitarian Kitchen • Pili –My Sweet Things
Michelle – Our Crafty Mom • Emily – Domestic Deadline
Alexandra – Eye Love Knots• Shirley – Intelligent Domestications
Lauren – Mom Home Guide • Susan – Suzerspace
T’onna – Sew Crafty Crochet • Pamela – Busy Lifestyle Gal
Marci – Stone Cottage Adventure • Bri – Halfpint Design
Sounds delicious and just the kind of lighter meal I could do with now after all the Christmas food!
I love tomatoes on the vine, the taste is just amazing, even better if you can grow your own of course!
I am also feeling the need to eat “lightly” hahaha.
I love salmon any way it is fixed. Adding this recipe to my must try list.
Thanks, Debra! I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Salmon is my favorite fish. I will keep this recipe in mind.
This looks like a good recipe! My husband and kids don’t always love fish. But I think adding in the chorizo, basil and tomatoes might win them over!
I hope it does win them over, but I think thin cut chicken breast filets would work as a substitute. Good luck!
Yum! I love Jamie Oliver recipes, he makes cooking sound easy and fun.
He does, doesn’t he? We like watching his buddy Gennaro on their FoodTube channel, too.
I just had salmon a couple days ago! Your salmon looks delicious, and those cherry tomatoes look so yummy, too! I love tomatoes.
I made the dish to try the salmon, but the tomatoes were really the stars of the plate. I’ll definitely make them again, they’re great candidates for a quick meal with a fried egg on top!
Lydia, This looks delicious and I love one pan meals! Thanks for sharing this recipe
I do believe more people would cook for themselves if they had a few easy to prepare meals they could turn to regularly. That’s more or less what Jamie Oliver is trying to do with his current series.
How funny, I just made miso salmon tonight, but I had all the ingredients to make this one too. Pinned so I can give this a try. BTW – we keep the skins on too.
Thanks for pinning Erlene. I like the sound of miso salmon. I’ll have to give that a try. We usually go for teriyaki or chili if we want Asian flavors with our salmon.
Love this combination of flavors! Pinning!
Thanks for pinning, Roseann! There’s a lot going on with just a few ingredients, hope you’re able to give it a try.
What a fun combo of ingredients! This looks excellent — great dish. Thanks. And Happy Holidays!
Thank you, John! I hope you and Mrs KR have a great holiday season as well! I’m looking forward to a new year of cocktails and wonderful plates with you all 🙂
My husband would love everything about this recipe!` I’ll have to try it for him.
Thanks, Jenny. I hope you all enjoy it 🙂
My hubby loves salmon and I’m getting tired of the same recipes. This looks and sounds delicious to try.
This was different for us, too. Usually I will bake the salmon and have it to use in salads. Hope you enjoy it!
That looks delicious! I love salmon and am always looking for new ways to prepare it. Pinned.
Thanks for pinning! You’ll enjoy this recipe. It’s hard to beat a one pan meal!