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Main Courses: Salmon and Prawns in Spicy Tomato Sauce

Lesson time 20:16 min

In one of two non-vegetarian dishes, Yotam recommends salmon as a sustainable choice and a way to impress your guests. Learn how to prepare a celebration dish, served directly from oven to table.

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Topics include: Salmon and Prawns in Spicy Tomato Sauce

Yotam Ottolenghi

Teaches Modern Middle Eastern Cooking

James Beard Award–winning chef Yotam Ottolenghi teaches you his recipes for delicious Middle Eastern platters layered with color and flavor.

Preview

[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING] [00:00:01.71] YOTAM OTTOLENGHI (VOICEOVER): This is salmon, which is a very popular fish. And I've decided to give it a real special treatment and serve it in a big beautiful platter straight from the oven to the table. I would call it a celebration fish. It just looks spectacular. [00:00:27.57] The salmon is gonna be served in a chili and tomato sauce, which is inspired by Jewish North African sauces, especially from Libya and Tunisia where the fish is cooked in a-- in a spicy tomato and chili sauce. Obviously, they wouldn't use salmon there. And shrimps are not gonna be there. [00:00:45.96] But the flavors of the sauce itself, having tomato, chili, garlic, and caraway, are deeply North African. And I love those things, because I think the-- this-- the fish could really stand against those big flavors. And it's a great way to-- to serve a fish, in those colorful, red, lovely colors. [00:01:05.31] So I'm gonna start with some oil in my pan. And it's about roughly four tablespoons. And I'm just gonna start by slicing some garlic and some chili and giving them a bit of color. [00:01:24.09] And the lovely thing about this dish is, often, people think about fish dishes as being kind of quite precious. You want to cook it perfectly and serve it when you're ready and all the rest. And that is true of many fish dishes. But this one is all about the immediacy of having your-- your sauce cooked already and the fish just poaching the sauce. So it's more difficult to overcook it. [00:01:51.81] Think about it as a bit of a fish stew. That's how I like to think about it, because it really is something that that does-- of course, you don't want to overcook your fish. But it sits in a-- in a-- in a wet environment. So it's quite nice to have it as a reassurance. You know, it's-- it's more difficult to-- to overcook. So I'm gonna add this garlic and some red chili, also thinly sliced. [00:02:21.73] What I love about this sauce is the combination of fresh and dried chili. So I've got some fresh red chili going in. And in a minute, I'm gonna add a little bit of this dried ancho chili. And that ancho chili will add depth, will add some sweetness. And the fresh chili is all about the intensity of a fresh chili that is kind of unmitigated. It's like proper chili, fresh. That goes in there. [00:02:59.63] This is a pretty-- pretty hot sauce. If you don't want it to be too hot, you can scrape the seeds out, which always helps-- helps with reducing the heat. It's up to you, really. And you can also reduce the amount of chili that goes in. So I'm gonna cook these chilies and garlic, just to really soften and until they go translucent. And I'm roughly chopping my ancho. [00:03:29.42] As you do that, you can get rid of some of the seeds, but you don't get to get rid of all the seeds. It's absolutely fine. If you can't find ancho chilies, use other dried chilies. But don't use very hot chilies, something pretty mild and with a bit of de...

About the Instructor

One of the most influential chefs working today, Yotam Ottolenghi creates dishes that layer color and flavor for maximum impact. Now the James Beard Award winner teaches you simple steps for making and mixing Middle Eastern–inspired recipes. Learn how to make generous platters—mezze and brunch spreads to homemade condiments, stunning stand-alones, and delicious vegetables—so you can entertain with ease.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Yotam Ottolenghi

James Beard Award–winning chef Yotam Ottolenghi teaches you his recipes for delicious Middle Eastern platters layered with color and flavor.

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