I. Love. Cheese. Especially if it is of the firm, white, aged variety. enter Parmesan and Asiago stage left.
Todays dinner comes from the pages of "A Consuming Passion," a lovely food blog I raided the other day (find it at http://www.aconsumingpassion.com/). Instead of salmon, I had some rainbow trout that I got on sale, and this fish made the cut! The the original recipe called for two fillets of salmon, 1/4 cup of fine grated Parmesan, salt and pepper, and basil pesto, and I didn't mess with it beyond shirnkage (and the fish ;) ) and it was delish!
you can either use skin-on or skinned fillets, although I would watch the fillet carefully if you go skinless, as you could overcook it after the fish is turned.
Anyway, the fish took less than a minute to prep; season the fish with salt and pepper, then pat the cheese on one side firmly so it is coated.
you then saute the fish in a bit of veg or olive oil in a non-stick pan. Heat the oil on high in a non-stick or well seasoned iron skillet, then place the fillets cheese-side down and reduce the temp to medium. Cook for about four minutes, or until most of the flesh you can see from the side is opaque. Flip the fillet over and cook the rest of the way, about 3-4 mins, depending on the thickness.
You can either leave it alone after that, or drizzle it with some basil pesto.
I would stay away from pre-shredded cheese in a can, as it can be way too salty, although if that's what you got... I might also cut the salt seasoning on the fish as the pesto I had seemed to do the job admirably.
I paired this dish with 1/4 cup of brown rice cooked in chicken broth and a basic Caesar salad with Parmesan.
I can't wait to try it with salmon!
