salmon recipe for gravlax with lemon, salad and bread with butter

This salmon recipe is amazing when you want to impress. It looks quite cheffy; but actually, gravlax is super-easy to make at home. All you need is a little patience and you’ll be rewarded with epic flavour! Jamie likes to serve gravlax with buttered brown bread and lemon wedges for squeezing over, but you can mix and match with pickles, sour cream, and torn up soft herbs. Yum!

 

  1. Start by making your gravlax cure. Blitz 2 large fresh peeled beetroot, finely grated orange and lemon zest and crushed juniper berries to a fairly smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl and stir in 6 tablespoons of rock salt and 2 tablespoons of Demerara sugar. Pour in two shots of gin and mix well. 
    blended berries being spread on the salmon
  2. Lay a side of salmon skin-side down on a large baking tray and cover with the cure. Spread all over the flesh and make sure it’s evenly covered. Wrap the salmon in a double layer of greaseproof paper, then wrap tightly with clingfilm and place in the fridge for 24 hours.
    spread berry all over salmon until covered
  3. Carefully unwrap the salmon. Holding the fish over a baking tray, splash over 100ml of cold water (or you can use gin!) a little at a time. Use a spoon to gently push the beetroot cure off the fish – it should be a really vibrant colour underneath.
    spread herbs over the salmon covered in berry
  4. Now your salmon’s ready for a second cure. Finely chop half a bunch each of fresh dill and tarragon, and mix with 4 tablespoons of finely grated fresh horseradish and 50ml of gin. Rinse out the baking tray and place the salmon back in, skin-side down. Pack the herby cure onto the salmon using your hands, making sure all the flesh is covered. Wrap again with a double layer of greaseproof and a tight layer of clingfilm. Return the salmon to the fridge for a further 24 hours.
    salmon being sliced with herbs on top
  5. To serve, unwrap the salmon and slice as thinly as you can at an angle. Pile onto a plate and serve with buttered brown bread, watercress and wedges of lemon for squeezing over. Yum!

Hungry for more? Take a look at all of our tasty salmon recipes here.