Recipe of the week: salmon and pasta broth with watercress oil

Healthy, hearty and full of greens and goodness, this dish is one-pot cooking at its best, says Libby Silbermann. Poaching the salmon ensures super-soft, flaking fish. Use any small soup pasta you like.

Serves two people

Ingredients

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• 2 litres vegetable stock
• 125g soup pasta (such as pepe bucato or fregola)
• 2 skinless salmon fillets
• 60g spring greens, shredded
• 60g cavolo nero (black kale), shredded
• 80g frozen peas
• small handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• pecorino shavings, to garnish

For the watercress oil:

• 50g watercress
• small handful of basil
• 50ml olive oil

Method

• Firstly, make the watercress oil. In a food processor blitz together the watercress, basil and olive oil. Pulse until you have a smooth, green oil. Set to one side while you prepare the broth.
• In a large pan add the stock and bring to the boil. Add the pasta and cook for 3mins, then add the salmon fillets, letting them poach in the liquid for approximately 5mins. For the final minute or so, add the spring greens, cavolo nero and peas and allow them to cook for 1min. Once the pasta is tender and the fish cooked through, stir through the parsley and check the seasoning before removing from the heat.
• Spoon into deep bowls, making sure the salmon sits on top (don’t worry if it starts to flake apart). Top the bowls with a drizzle of the watercress oil and some pecorino shavings.

Taken from Foolproof Fish by Libby Silbermann, published by Quadrille at £12.99. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £9.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.