Prepare salmon for Christmas – festive fish recipes for starters and main courses

If you have not yet put together your festive Christmas menu, then this article will provide you with inspiration for a sophisticated menu with fish. How about some salmon for Christmas? In today’s post you will find fish recipes for Christmas for tasty starters as well as for the main course. The salmon recipes can be easily prepared and integrated as an elegant change in a multi-course menu.

Salmon for Christmas as a starter – apple soup with smoked salmon

A warm and delicious soup is the perfect start to your holiday menu. As a starter, soups whet the appetite for the next courses and are eagerly consumed. As a starter for the upcoming Christmas dinner with fish, we have selected a simple and tasty recipe for apple soup with smoked salmon. You will need the following ingredients for four servings:

• 100 g smoked salmon
• 1 leek
• 1 apple
• 450 ml of broth
• 250 ml of cream
• 100 g sour cream
• 50 ml cider
• 1/2 onion
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper
• Handful of hazelnuts for garnish

Cut the smoked salmon into fine strips. Also cut the leek and dice the apple. Finely chop the onion and chervil. Sauté the onion in butter until translucent and add the leek and the apple cubes. Deglaze with the cider. Then add the bay leaf and fill up with broth. As soon as everything is soft, remove the bay leaf and add the cream. Puree the soup and season with salt and pepper. Garnish the soup with the chopped nuts and chervil and add the salmon strips.

Serve up salmon terrine as a festive starter – salmon for Christmas with a great look

The salmon terrine is a delightful starter that cuts a fine figure on the festively arranged plates. The terrine not only looks appealing, but also convinces with its fine taste. You can modify the filling to suit your taste by adding or removing ingredients. Here is our suggestion:

• 400 g of salmon, smoked
• 750 g cream cheese
• 250 ml of cream
• 8 sheets of gelatin
•  2 cl Noilly Prat vermouth
• 2 tbsp cream horseradish
• 2 tbsp dill, freshly chopped
• 1 tbsp sage, freshly chopped
• Lemon juice
• salt and pepper

Line the edge and bottom of a loaf pan with cling film. Soak the gelatin in cold water. Now stir the cream cheese with the horseradish and herbs until smooth. Then slightly warm the squeezed out gelatin with the wormwood and let it melt. Stir in the cream cheese and whipped cream. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Now put half of the cream in the mold and place salmon rolls or vegetables on top. Then spread the other half of the cream cheese on top and smooth it out. Cover with salmon slices and cover with cling film. Chill the salmon terrine for at least 3 hours and turn out of the mold before serving.

Glazed salmon for Christmas in a honey-orange sauce

How about, for example, crispy, glazed fish for Christmas? You will need these ingredients for four servings:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 170 g salmon fillet
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Juice of half an orange
• half an orange sliced
• salt and pepper

Heat the butter in a pan, put the salmon fillets skin down in the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes. Turn the salmon over and cook on the other side for another 2 minutes. Now add the orange juice and let the liquid reduce. Add the garlic, honey and soy sauce. Stir the sauce well and stir the fish in the pan. When the salmon is done, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with sauce. Rice, pasta, steamed vegetables or salad are ideal accompaniments to the Christmas dish.

Fish recipes for Christmas – puff-coated salmon

Another idea for Christmas dinner with fish, which convinces with a great look and delicious taste, is salmon in puff pastry.

Ingredients:

• 400 g of puff pastry
• 600 g salmon fillet without skin
• 350 g fresh spinach
• 1 shallot
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• Nutmeg, freshly ground
• salt and pepper

Cut the shallot and the garlic and fry them until translucent. Add the washed and cleaned spinach until it collapses and taste with the spices. Take the pan off the heat and pour it into a colander. Cut the salmon into 4 equal pieces. Roll out the puff pastry on a floured work surface and cut out 4 squares. Then distribute the spinach on the squares, leaving a 1 cm wide border free. Put a piece of salmon on top and taste it. Brush the edges of the puff pastry with egg white. Roll the packets and press down firmly. Place the finished salmon puff pastry packets on baking paper and brush them with whisked egg yolks and cream. Bake at 200 degrees until golden brown. The salmon for Christmas can also be combined well with green asparagus instead of spinach.

Prepare whole salmon for Christmas

Would you like to cook a whole salmon in the oven, which you then serve with various side dishes such as potatoes, rice, saffron noodles or vegetables? These are the ingredients for the suggested preparation variant:

• 1 ½ kg of salmon
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt
• ½ pepper, freshly ground
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• 6 sprigs of fresh dill
• 6 sprigs of fresh parsley
• 4-6 cloves of garlic

Pat the fish dry. Brush it with oil on the inside and outside and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish on a baking sheet covered with foil and fill the fish with the fresh herbs and lemon wedges. Then tie the salmon in 3 or 4 places with kitchen twine. Bake the fish on the middle rack in the oven at 200 degrees.

Recipe idea for a side dish for the Christmas dinner with fish – lemon and chickpea couscous

The lemon and chickpea couscous would be an ideal side dish for the oven fish.

Ingredients:

• 300 g couscous
• 2 cans of chickpeas
• 50 g currants
• 50 g flaked almonds
• 2 teaspoons of harissa
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of two lemons
• fresh mint
• fresh parsley
• Lemon zest

Mix the chickpeas with the oil, spices, lemon juice and lemon zest. Add the harissa and currants to the couscous in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Cover the container and let the couscous brew according to the instructions on the package. Stir in the other ingredients into the hot couscous.