The combination of romesco sauce and seafood is so perfect, it seems like they were made for each other. Well, actually they are literally made for each other. Romesco sauce was created by Spanish fishermen to be eaten with their daily catch. I make romesco often and eat it with all sorts different foods. I especially love it dolloped on top of a beautiful piece of pan seared salmon, which is where the idea for these salmon cakes came from.
What I love about these cakes is they turn a meal for two people into a meal for three or four, so you really get good bang for your buck. We’ll have salad with salmon cakes for dinner one night and then the following morning I pop some over easy eggs on top of a couple of them for a quick and easy Benedict or make salmon cake sliders for lunch. They are great re-heated or room temperature, which makes them perfect for lunch boxes as well!
Here’s what you need:
I happen to know a great recipe for romesco sauce which I have included at the bottom of the page or click the link here.
How to make romesco salmon cakes:
First, roast salmon filets in a hot oven for ten minutes. Remember, they will be cooked again as cakes so you really don’t want to over cook them here.
Flake the cooled filets and place them in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Be careful not to over mix. We want nice big chunks of salmon in our cakes. Mix until everything is just combined.
Pop the batter in the fridge for a half hour to firm up.
This will make cake forming much easier, and will help the cakes maintain their shape while cooking.
Use a 2 ounce ice cream scoop form the cakes.
This method keeps my hands clean and creates even, uniform cakes. Just scoop it straight from the bowl and into the skillet. Then use the back of the scoop to flatten out the tops. If you don’t have an ice cream scoop, just use your hands to form your cakes.
Brown for a few minutes on each side on medium flame.
Enjoy them straight from the skillet or store in the fridge for a few days for a quick throw-together meal or snack!
These salmon cakes are the perfect size for sliders. Add some fresh tomato, spinach and onion with a smear of plain yogurt for a quick and easy party snack or quick lunch!
Other recipes to try:
Romesco Salmon Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh salmon filets
- 1 cup romesco sauce
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 tsp salt, plus extra for roasting salmon
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
- Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray. Place the salmon with the skin side down on the pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast in a 400 degree preheated oven for 10 minutes. Allow to cool before handling.
- Remove the skin from the roasted salmon and place in a large mixing bowl with all of the other ingredients. Mix until everything just comes together but be careful not to over mix. Put the bowl in the refridgerator for 20 minutes to chill.
- Heat a pan over medium heat and add a few tablespoons of oil. Use your hands to form cakes that are about 3 inches in diameter and about 1/2 inch thick. This should give you 12 cakes. Cook in batches of 3 or 4 at a time until both sides of the cake are golden brown, most likely 6 minutes per side.
- Serve immediately topped with sliced avocado or a dollop of plain yogurt and a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Perfect Romesco Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for roasting the veggies
- 2 red bell pepper.
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 whole garlic head sliced horizontally about a third of the way through to expose the whole cloves
- 1 slice of crusty day-old or toasted bread about a 2 ounce slice
- 1/4 cup toasted almonds
- 1/2 tsp salt, plus more for roasting veggies
- 2 tbsp parsley rough chopped
- 2 tbsp basil (optional) rough chopped
- 1 tsp sherry vinegar
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the bell peppers, tomatoes, and halved garlic head on a sheet pan and drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for about 20-25 minutes. Use tongs once or twice through the cooking process to turn the ingredients to make sure everything is evenly browned. Allow to cool a bit before handling.Peel off any skin from bell peppers that has become separated from the meat and also remove the stem and seeds. Use your fingers to squeeze the whole roasted cloves of garlic from their skins. Place the peppers and garlic in the bowl of a food processor along with the tomatoes, almonds, herbs, olive oil, salt and vinegars. Purée until smooth then add the bread, cut up into small pieces. Allow the bread to sit in the sauce for a couple minutes to soften then purée until the sauce is smooth. Add more salt or vinegar if needed. Enjoy immediately or store in the refridgerator for up to a week.
Delicious.