Salmon and potato al forno

Hello everyone, I am shortly moving into the city for work, which has its pluses and minuses. The choices for lunch are definitely going to be an improvement on where I am now. Yesterday I was in town and went looking for a sandwich cafe of which I have heard many good things but never stumbled across before. It turned out to be down one of those dingy alleys which you would never explore unless you were on the hunt for something, and there was no signage to indicate the name of the place. Close questioning, and my lunch, proved I had found the right place. It is called Via Abercrombie and they do outstanding sandwiches! So this is one place I'll be visiting regularly.

This week's recipe comes from the August 2009 edition of delicious magazine. Funnily enough there were very few recipes in that issue that excited me, but this one caught my eye as its key ingredients are all favourites, and I was very, very happy with the result.

Have a great week. Love from Jane xx

Salmon and potato al forno

Serves four

What you need:

• 1 kg chat potatoes
• 1 large fennel bulb
• 1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 25g cold butter, cut into small pieces
• Light olive oil
• 4 salmon fillets, with skin
• A few mint leaves, finely chopped
• A small handful of grated parmesan
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges, for serving

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 220C.
2. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.
3. Halve the potatoes lengthways and trim the fennel bulb, reserving the leafy fronds for garnishing later.
4. Cut the fennel bulb into 8 wedges, add these to the salted water with the potatoes and parboil for about 6 minutes.
5. Drain the vegetables in a colander and leave to steam dry for a minute.
6. Transfer to a large roasting pan and season well with salt and pepper.
7. Sprinkle over half the parsley and all of the garlic, dot with the butter and drizzle well with the olive oil.
8. Toss everything together in the pan so it is all mixed well and then shake out so that the vegetables sit in one layer.
9. Cook the vegetables in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden.
10. While the vegetables are roasting, score the skin on the fish.
11. Season the fish with salt and pepper and push the remaining parsley and the mint into the scores.
12. When the vegetables are golden, sprinkle the parmesan over the potatoes.
13. Lay the salmon, skin side up, on top of the vegetables.
14. Sprinkle over the lemon zest and drizzle with some olive oil.
15. Cook for a further 15 minutes in the oven.
16. Just before the dish comes out of the oven, chop the reserved fennel fronds.
17. Take the fish and vegetables out of the oven, sprinkle with the chopped fennel fronds and serve with wedges of lemon.