How to achieve the perfect crispy salmon with Mary Berry's simple technique

Salmonmakes a fantastic choice for dinner when you're after something nutritious, but it won't taste as delicious as it could if you simply pop it in the oven. No one fancies eating mushy fish, but Mary Berry has revealed in her cookbook 'Love To Cook' that a straightforward method to give salmon a far superior texture is to cover it in semolina.

Mary explained: "The semolina on top of the salmon gives a lovely crust and the paprika adds to the flavour and colour." Semolina is a rough flour that makes salmon considerably crispier, so you get a gorgeous golden coating that's also incredibly tasty without needing to spend ages preparing.

It assists in drying the salmon's skin so it crisps up better in the oven and also forms a protective layer around the dish to stop it from sticking to a baking tray, reports the Express.

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Making semolina-coated salmon takes under five minutes, and then it requires approximately 18 minutes to cook so you can prepare this winning dinner in under 30 minutes.

How to make Mary Berry's crispier salmon

Ingredients

For the salmon:

• Four salmon fillets
• 25g of semolina
• 175g of samphire
• One teaspoon of paprika
• Small bunch of fresh parsley (separate the leaves and stalks)
• Half a lemon (cut into four wedges)
• Salt and pepper

For the lemon sauce:

• Juice of half a lemon
• Three tablespoons of mayonnaise
• 200g of crème fraîche (full-fat)
• Two small preserved lemons

Method

To start, heat the oven to 200C (180C for a fan oven or Gas Mark 6). Then, get a tray ready by covering it with baking paper - then grease it with butter.

Put the semolina, paprika, salt and pepper onto a large plate.

Cover the top and edges of each salmon fillet with melted butter, then dip it into the seasoning mix until you've got a coating. Place the parsley stalks on the tray and rest the salmon on top.

Pop it in the oven and let it cook for 15 to 18 minutes until the top is golden and perfectly crispy.

For the lemon sauce, pop the parsley leaves and preserved lemons into a blender and blitz until you have a smooth paste. Pour this into a bowl then add the lemon juice, mayonnaise and crème fraîche.

Next, gently heat the lemon sauce in a pot until it's warmed through. If you fancy, you can season the sauce with pepper but be mindful not to add too much salt as the preserved lemons will already be quite salty from the brine.

When the salmon is nearly ready, toss the samphire into a pot of salted water and let it cook for two minutes.

To serve, arrange the parsley stalks and salmon on a plate, then add some samphire and a lemon wedge to the side. Finish off with a drizzle of the lemon sauce.