Fresh Broiled Salmon With Saucy Cheese Tortellini

CJAY's Note:

The cooking time are approximate depending on the thickness of the fish. We really loved this and hope you do too! Note: Any fresh salmon can be used for this. Just try to buy high quality salmon as it tastes so much better. Check to make sure you have enough wine in the broiler pan. You will need it for the sauce.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 fresh salmon fillet , 2 . 25 lbs, skin on, I used Copper River Salmon
• ½ cup mayonnaise (Best Foods)
• ½ cup green onion , thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed
• liquid smoke , to taste
• 1 (9 ounce) package refrigerated cheese tortellini , cooked
• ¾ cup creme fraiche
• ¼ cup fresh mozzarella cheese
• 1 teaspoon dill
• 2 lemons
• dry white wine
• parsley , for garnish

Directions:

1. Stir dill into creme fraiche. Cut mozzarella into small pieces and add to creme fraiche and dill. Add the zest from one of the lemons. Pour wine into broiler pan until it's 1/8th inch deep. Spray broiler rack with cooking spray. Place salmon, skin side down on broiler rack. Broil for 10 minutes about 7 inches from heat source.
2. Meanwhile, mix mayonnaise, green onions, mustard, garlic, and liquid smoke together in small bowl. After the salmon has cooked for 10 minutes, spread mayonnaise mixture evenly over top of salmon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil until mayonnaise mixture is golden brown and salmon is cooked through, about 6 minutes. If it starts browning too fast, lay foil on top. Time is approximate depending on thickness of fish. Do not overcook. Remove fish to warm plate and keep warm. Pour wine from broiling pan into skillet. Cook on high heat until reduced in half. Take off heat. Whisk creme fraiche mixture into reduced wine. Add any fish juices on plate to mixture and whisk inches Stir constantly until well mixed over low heat. Remove 1/2 cup of sauce and reserve. Toss cooked tortellini in rest of sauce and place on 4 warmed plates. Remove skin from salmon, cut into 4 pieces and place on top of tortellini. Drizzle with reserved sauce. Garnish with parsley and lemon slices.

Reviews

[NorthwestGal]

I had a lot of problems with this recipe, and I don't know if it was something I did wrong or what. But first, it's a rather complex recipe and involves a lot more than just 2 steps. But as for the cooking process, the cream sauce that goes on top of the salmon did brown nicely (as the recipe state it should). But most of the cream sauce melted down the sides of the salmon during broiling, and it trickled down through the grates of my broiler rack and mingled with the wine in the bottom of the broiler pan. All of that bubbled up and boiled to a crispy black crust at the bottom of the broiler pan. So I had no wine left to mix with the remaining sauce to be drizzled over the salmon. I started over and made a second batch of the sauce, but I had the same problem. So I decided to just add a little white wine to a skillet and add a little of the scraped-up crispy pan drippings (for flavor), and just tried to do my best. It reduced to half, as the recipe state it should, but it ended up not being enough sauce to share among 4 servings of salmon and to coat the pasta thoroughly as well. So the tortellini was pretty dry. But the sauce was delicious, with a refreshing lemon feature, and I would definitely make that again and use it to toss with just cooked tortelllini. Thanks for sharing your recipe CJAY.