Baked Tarragon Salmon

Our answer

Nigella's Tarragon Salmon has fillets of salmon that are pan-fried and then have vermouth, herbs and cream added at the end to make a pan sauce. It is a quick and easy one pan dish. The short cooking time gives coral pink flesh, but if you like your salmon cooked through then add a splash of water with the vermouth and cook the salmon in this liquid for a few minutes longer.

As the sauce needs to be reduced, we do not recommend baking the fish with the sauce ingredients in a foil parcel as it is likely there will be too much liquid and the sauce will be too thin. If you prefer to bake the salmon then it is possible to do this but you would still need to make the sauce in a frying pan or shallow saucepan. Rub the salmon fillets with the garlic oil and dot with the butter before baking using your own preferred method. We suggest that once the salmon is cooked to your liking you remove it from the oven and let it rest on a couple of warmed dinner plates. Put the herb infused vermouth in a small frying pan, along with any juices that have come from the salmon during baking, bring this to the boil and let it bubble until about one third of its original volume. This will only take a minute or so, depending on the size of the pan. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the cream, then season the sauce and spoon it over the baked salmon.