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Crispy skinned pan fried salmon, served with creamy orzo with lemon, Parmesan and peas – it’s the perfect, fresh spring dinner (that you can enjoy all year long!)

Orzo is a delightful pasta shape – as small as rice grains. When cooked, it has a lovely bite and texture that works so well with the soft, flaky salmon.

The orzo here is flavoured with lemon, Parmesan and parsley, with a fresh bite of sweet peas throughout. It’s the perfect combination!

And the salmon is both simple and delicious- it’s really easy to cook this way, and works so well. With just salt on the skin and cooked in olive oil, the flavour of the salmon really shines through.

The Ingredients

For the orzo – you’ll start the orzo with onion, garlic and some lemon rind fried in olive oil, then add the orzo pasta. Add 900ml water and a chicken stock cube (or alternatively just use 900ml chicken stock) and cook until al dente. You will then add a spoonful of crème fraiche and frozen peas, followed by grated Parmesan (any hard Italian cheese will work), lemon juice and chopped parsley.
For the salmon – the salmon is simply sprinkled with salt and fried in olive oil – that’s all you need! I would recommend using olive oil for the frying here – the temperature doesn’t get too high and it adds a lovely flavour to the salmon.

More orzo pasta recipes:

Pan Fried Salmon with Lemon Parmesan Orzo

Crispy skinned salmon fillets on top of creamy lemon Parmesan orzo with parsley and peas.

Harriet Young Start Cooking in Cook Mode

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Total Time 25

Serving Size people

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 lemon juice and rind
500 grams orzo
1 chicken stock cube
200 grams frozen peas
2 tablespoons creme fraiche
100 grams parmesan grated
10 grams fresh parsley
4 salmon fillets skin on

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

Start with the orzo. Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Add to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Grate or peel the lemon rind and add to the pan. Allow it sweat for 30 seconds, then add the orzo, chicken stock cube and 900mls water.
Bring to a simmer and cook gently for approximately ten minutes, until the orzo is al dente. Stir regularly so that it doesn’t stick.
Stir in the peas, crème fraiche and Parmesan. Cook for another minute, then turn the heat off while you cook the salmon.
Sprinkle the skin of the salmon fillets with salt. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a separate frying pan and add the salmon (skin side down). Cook for 5 minutes skin side down, then flip and cook for 30 seconds on the other side. Remove from the pan.
Finish the orzo by stirring in the chopped parsley and lemon juice. Serve the orzo in bowls topped with a salmon fillet.