baked salmon stuffed with mascarpone spinach

My daughter Kelly came to visit a couple weekends ago.  She signed up and ran a half marathon while here, training for the Marine Corps Marathon, in Washington, D.C., which started early this morning.  This will be her first full marathon {26.2 miles}, and as I write this, she's running throughout the streets of D.C.!  I'm dying to know how she's doing! One of her best friends, Kristen, a sorority sister from college, is running the marathon with her.  Kelly's plan, before turning 27 in December, was to run a full marathon, and she is about to achieve her goal!  By the time this post hits my blog today, she will have finished the race, I will be relieved, proud, and ecstatic for her!  We will then begin bracing for the history making storm heading this way later tonight.

I love creating Kelly's favorite foods when she comes by, so decided I would buy some fresh salmon,  one of her favorites, and try a new recipe I had bookmarked several months ago.  I went by Wegman's which has a lovely fresh seafood department, and picked out three beautiful medium red fleshed, wild Pacific Coho Salmon fillets. While all five species of Wild Pacific Salmon have great flavor, Alaskan Coho's wonderful taste and delicate texture, is ranked among the three most popular to eat, along with Chinook and Sockeye.

The baked salmon, stuffed with creamy mascarpone spinach was perfection!  The breading was incredible with the fresh processed crusty French baguette breadcrumbs, and freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano.  There are recipes from time to time that I change after creating the first time, but I would not change one thing about this recipe.  This is an outstanding dinner party entree and can be prepped and prepared ahead, so lends itself to a large group.  It's just as easily cut in half, as I did.  The leftovers heated up perfectly, and the flavor was just as exceptional two days later.

To complete the meal, I'll feature Kelly's favorite dessert I created - a simple, yet scrumptious Honey Crisp Apple Crisp in my next post.

Until next time…mangia!  xox

Carol

Marathon Update:  Just before posting my baked salmon recipe, Kelly called elated, "I did it, I did it!!!"  That's my girl!

Baked Salmon Stuffed with Mascarpone Spinach
Recipe adapted from Epicurious.

Serves 8 (recipe can easily be cut in half)

Ingredients:

1 10 ounce size bag of fresh spinach leaves

1/2 cup (4 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup (4 ounces) mascarpone, at room temperature

pinch of ground nutmeg

8 6-8 ounce salmon fillets with skin (each about 1 inch thick)

extra virgin olive oil

2-2/3 cups fresh french baguette breadcrumbs

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
salt and ground pepper to taste
fresh herbs or lemon slices for garnish, if desired

Create the Baked Stuffed Salmon:

1) Cook spinach in large pot of boiling water just until wilted, about 30 seconds.  Drain; rinse with cold water. Squeeze spinach dry, then finely chop.  Place in a small bowl.  Mix in cream cheese, mascarpone, and ground nutmeg.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cut one 3/4-inch-deep, 2 1/2-inch-long slit down center of top side of each salmon fillet, forming a pocket for spinach mixture.  Fill each slit with spinach mixture, dividing equally among salmon fillets.  This step can be made up to 4 hours ahead.  Cover and refrigerate.

2) Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Brush rimmed baking sheet lightly with olive oil.  Sprinkle salmon fillets with salt and pepper to taste.  Mix breadcrumbs, melted butter, and parmigiano-reggiano in medium bowl.  Top each salmon fillet with breadcrumb mixture, pressing to adhere.  If desired, grind some fresh pepper over top of breadcrumbs.  Place salmon fillets, skin side down, on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake salmon until opaque in center and mascarpone spinach stuffing is hot - depending on fillet size, about 12 - 15 minutes.  If breadcrumbs start to brown too much after the first 10 - 12 minutes, place a piece of aluminum foil loosely over the top of them.

3) Transfer to serving plates, garnish if you wish with a fresh herb or lemon, and mangia!!!