Salmon Parcels with Homemade Pesto

Salmon Parcels with Homemade Pesto©Kevin Ashton

This is the dish I created for today’s online cooking class October 14th 2025 , it looks complicated but if you break it down it is easy to replicate.  A fresh boneless portion of salmon (sometimes called a darne or a supreme), topped with homemade pesto and wrapped in phylo pastry.

I decided to serve a lemon and parsley sauce with the salmon along with green beans and Marquis potatoes.  Classically Marquis potatoes are made from mash, enriched with an egg yolk. and then topped with tomato concasse.  Instead I chose to roast a red pepper and stir in a little chipotle paste to make a great contrast to the lemon sauce and the pesto.

Of course, you don’t need to do every part of this dish, perhaps you just like to make the salmon with the pesto. Below are the recipes.

Ingredients serves 2

2 x 150 grams portions of fresh salmon

6 sheets of phylo pastry

2 -3 TBsp homemade pesto (recipe at bottom)

Olive oil for brushing pastry

Salmon:

  1. Line a non stick baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Remove the skin from the salmon if you wish, then pat dry the salmon portions and make sure they have no bones in them.
  3. Spoon the pesto onto the top of the salmon portions.
  4. Lay out 3 sheets of phylo brushing a little olive oil between each sheet (but not the top one).
  5. Place one portion of the salmon at the end of the phylo sheets, pesto side up and then roll it over once (so the non pesto side is facing up).
  6. Next fold over the edges at the top and the bottom of the phylo.
  7. Now roll the salmon over 2-3 times until the salmon is wrapped up, trim off excess if you wish.
  8. Make 2 or 3 slashes lightly in the top to let steam escape (during cooking) and brush lightly with olive oil.
  9. Transfer to the baking tray then repeat with the second salmon portion and then place in the fridge until needed.
  10. When the rest of you meal is almost ready bake the salmon in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly brown.

Lemon and Parsley Sauce:

Juice from 1 ½  Lemon + peel

5 grams Flat parsley chopped

150 ml Double (heavy) Cream

250 ml fish or chicken stock

2 tsp Corn flour/starch

pinch of white sugar

Making Sauce:

  1. Use a sharp peeler and peel the lemons and reserve. Make sure the peel has no pith on it.
  2. Heat the stock and cream on a medium heat and then add the lemon peel an d simmer on a medium heat. Add the lemon and the sugar and continue to cook.
  3. Drizzle just enough cold water into the corn starch /flour to make a paste, then whisk into the simmering sauce and continue to stir for 2 minutes and turn the heat down to very low.
  4. Once you have a good lemon flavour, remove the lemon peel, season with sea salt and black pepper, stir in the parsley and remove from the heat.

Marquis Potatoes:

500 gr peeled Potatoes cut into even sized pieces

1 egg yolk

½ Tbsp Chipotle paste

½ red pepper

Classically, Pommes Marquis should be topped with diced tomato (concasse) but I wanted to be a little different and make contrast between the lemon sauce, the pesto and a little heat from the chipotle paste.

  1. Cover the potatoes with cold water and bring to a simmer, then season with salt.
  2. Cook the potatoes a medium heat so the potatoes cook evenly and mash smoothly.
  3. When the potatoes are all tender drain well and return them to the saucepan onto a very low heat. Stir so they don’t burn as you dry the potatoes out for 1-2 minutes.
  4. Remove from the heat, mash until very smooth and season with sea salt and black pepper. Allow to cool for ten minutes then beat in the egg yolk 
  5. Roast the ½ red pepper in a little olive oil then lightly season.  When the pepper is soft but still has a little bite to it remove from the heat and dice as fine as you can.  Transfer to a small container and mix in the chipotle paste and reserve.
  6. Spoon the cool enriched mash into a piping bag with a large star tube and pipe two conical shaped pyramids per person. 
  7. Use a small teaspoon to top each potato with the red pepper mixture and carefully transfer them onto a baking tray.
  8. Bake in a hot oven until very lightly browned.
Salmon Parcels with Homemade Pesto©Kevin Ashton
Salmon Parcels with Homemade Pesto©Kevin Ashton

HomemadePesto ©Kevin Ashton 2024

I used the last of my basil from my garden to make the pesto last night. Making your own ensures there is no nasty chemicals or additives in your pesto.  It will last fine for several weeks or you can freeze the leftover for later use.

Ingredients

30g pine nuts

40g basil (home grown will give a better flavour)

30g parmesan or Padano

75ml extra virgin olive oil

6 grams peeled garlic cloves

Method

  1. Heat a small frying pan over a low heat (I use my cast iron skillet). Cook the pine nuts until golden, shaking occasionally.
  2. Put into a food processor with the basil, parmesan, olive oil and garlic cloves. Whizz until smooth, then season to taste.

Chef’s Notes on photos:

Taking quick snapshots at the end of the cooking class doesn’t always give me the finest results, but they are honest photographs of the food I cooked today in a 2 hour class.

27 thoughts on “Salmon Parcels with Homemade Pesto”

    1. Thank you so much Christopher. The photos were just snapshots I took at the end of the lesson. They are not as sharp as I would like but I keen to post a recipe. I may try to reshoot the photo later this week to see if I can get a better result.
      Best Wishes
      Kevin 🙂

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  3. I love salmon and eat it often. Especially grilled and on top of a Caesar salad. Nice contrast between mild and sharp flavors. I’ve never tried it wrapped in phyllo pastry, but I have some frozen, so I’ll have to try it. The problem is, I’ve never liked pesto. I wonder if a lemon herb aioli would do or if it would get too liquidy.

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    1. Hi Noelle, and thank you for your great question.

      Yes I’m afraid that the lemon herb aioli would get too liquidy.

      Wrapping the salmon in Phylo hold the moisture in of the salmon but needs something of a “filling” to counteract the dryness of the phylo pastry.

      You could try maiking a topping from finely diced roasted bell pepper and stir in a small amount of Chipotle paste (as I did to top the mashed potatoes). That would make a great contrast to the lemon and parsley sauce or a lemon herb aioli, to dip the salmon into.

      Best Wishes
      Kevin 🙂

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      2. No I never judge, when someone doesn’t like something it is opportunity for me to oput my creative thinking cap on.
        Best Wishes to you Noelle
        Kevin 🙂

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    1. Thanks GP and apologies for my slow response. All the comments people make are very much appreciated. I hope you are doing well ? I plan to visit your great blog later this week.
      Best Wishes
      Kevin 🙂

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    1. Hi Julie and thank you for your kind words.

      Of course fresh pesto will keep for a few weeks but I also divide some into smaller containers and freeze it off.
      As for ideas besides tossed over pasta. I also make a little sauce with chicken stock and some cream perhaps some diced sundried tomatoes and serve with sauted diced chicken. I sometimes whisk a little pesto into fresh tomato sauce or soup. You could stir additional olive oil into a small amount of pesto and toss with some diced bread. Place on a baking tray and bake to create pesto croutons for salad.
      Best Wishes
      Kevin

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