A delicious flavour-fest of ingredients for a spectacular showstopper main course.

Method

• Preheat oven to 200°C (fan) and line an oven dish with baking parchment.
• Warm the oil in a frying pan over a low to medium heat, and add the onions with a pinch of salt and pepper. After a couple of minutes add the ginger and dried figs, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the red wine and a couple of rosemary stalks and cook, uncovered, over low-medium heat for 10-12 more minutes.
• Meanwhile, check the fish and remove any bones. If you have a pan that will hold the salmon side, heat a large non-stick griddle or frying pan until very hot. Brush olive oil over the salmon and sear the salmon on the hot griddle/non-stick frying pan over high heat, skin side up for 2-3 minutes. If you don’t have a large enough non-stick pan or griddle, either cut the salmon side in two and sear them separately before reassembling them in the oven dish, or skip this step and brown the fish under the grill of your oven for 2-3 minutes at the end.
• Place the seared salmon, flesh side up, on the lined oven dish.
• Pour the caramelised onion, figs and red wine mixture over the salmon. You can either bake the fish straight away or leave it ready to cook, covered with cling film in the fridge for a few hours.
• If cooking straight away, bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes, until just done and light pink inside. If cooking the fish from fridge cold it will need a litte longer - approximately 20 minutes.
• Serve either hot or at room temperature sprinkled with freshly chopped parsley and fresh figs.

Instagram: silvia_nacamulli

First published in the JC September 2 2021