recipe of the week: pancetta wrapped salmon stuffed with saffron rice

this amount of effort required for this dish is not justified by the taste. it's very tastey, but you could really avoid stuffing the salmon and just serving the rice on the side. but that would probably effect cooking times, so be warned. and the lovely coral colour of the rice is lost when it's cooked for a second time in the salmon.

saffron rice

400ml of vegetable stock
large pinch of saffron
190-200ml of long grain rice
dollop of butter
pinch of salt
3T chopped fresh herbs of your choice (like tarragon, chives, and mint)
1 lime, zested and juiced

bring the stock, saffron and salt to a boil.
stir in rice and bring back to a boil, stir, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.
remove from the heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes, still covered.
uncover and fork through butter, lime and herbs.


pancetta wrapped salmon

4 skinless, boneless salmon fillets (pay the extra to have the fish skinned as skinning raw fish is not fun)
14-18 strips of pancetta
some of the saffron rice

preheat the oven to 200C/392F.
lay 5-7 pancetta slices on your cutting board so that they overlap.
place 1 salmon fillet on the pancetta.
place a few spoonfuls of saffron rice on the fillets and press down, top with another salmon fillet.
wrap the pancetta up around the salmon and rice parcels, using an extra pancetta slice or 2 to ensure everything meets up.
bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through.
cover in foil once removed from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
cut into thick slices and serve with extra rice.