Italian Salmon Bake

Ingredients⌗

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 5oz salmon fillets, boneless and skin-on (you can also use a larger cut of salmon if you have one)
• 4 large cloves garlic, chopped in half
• 2 cups tomatoes, roughly chopped into ~1-inch pieces
• 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp capers, drained
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp savory leaves ¹
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp lovage leaves
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup minced chives

Instructions⌗

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan with EVOO. Pat the salmon fillets dry with paper towels and add them to the pan, skin side down, spreading them out to make space for tomatoes.
3. Rub the cut side of each garlic clove piece on the salmon fillets, then scatter the cloves in the pan around the salmon.
4. Grind or mix all the herbs (except basil and chives), salt, and all the spices together, then generously sprinkle them over the tops of the salmon fillets. You should have rather a thick crust of herbs and spices at the end here.
5. Scatter the chopped tomatoes in the pan around the salmon fillets.
6. Sprinkle the capers across the tops of the salmon fillets.
7. Scatter the thin shallot slices across the top of everything (tomatoes and salmon).
8. Place uncovered in oven on top rack, bake for 20-25 minutes until salmon is all orange and reaches a temperature of 145 in the center. If you like some browning on the top of the dish, switch to a high broil for the last 2 minutes.
9. Remove from oven; scatter chopped basil and chives across the top of the dish and zest the lemon over everything.
10. Slice the lemon into wedges for juicing onto salmon; plate and serve.

Makes 4 servings.