Dave Watts' colourful salmon with tomatoes recipe makes use of quality, seasonal ingredients to create a vibrant and intoxicating dish. Using English heritage tomatoes instead of regular varieties will lend the dish a pleasing sweetness.
To prepare the pickling liquor for the shallots, peel and finely slice the shallot and garlic, place all of the ingredients into a small pan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat and allow to infuse for a minimum of 30 minutes, or, preferably, overnight. Strain through a sieve, reserving the liquor
2-3 hours before serving, peel the banana shallots and slice into 1-2cm thick cylinders. Bring the water and salt to the boil in a pan, then blanch the shallots for 1-2 minutes, so they retain a little bite. Remove from the water and place straight into the pickling liquor until required
To prepare the tomatoes, brush a reasonably large baking tray with half of the oil then sprinkle with half of the salt. Crush the clove of garlic and rub all over the tray, allowing the garlic to break down and flavour the oil and salt. Tear the basil leaves and rub into the tray
Slice the tomatoes into different shapes and place onto the seasoned tray, removing a few sections of the tomato seeds for presentation. Brush the tomatoes with the remaining oil and season with the salt, sugar and black pepper
Cover the tray with cling film and leave at room temperature for a minimum of 30 minutes before using
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To prepare the salmon, divide the fillet into 4 equally-weighted portions and place skin-side down onto clean kitchen towel or J-cloth until ready to pan-fry
Place a large frying pan over a medium heat. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper and add the oil to the pan. Once the oil is hot, add the salmon skin-side down and cook to halfway through each fillet, then turn over and remove the pan from the heat. The residual heat of the pan should cook the fish through
Place the tomatoes onto plates, followed by the drained shallot cylinders. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the cooked fish and serve alongside the tomatoes. Add the chives to the pan and drizzle the pan juice and chives over the salmon and tomatoes. Garnish with the pink-stem micro herbs and tomato seeds before serving
Dave Watts may have come to cooking relatively late (at the age of 21), but he has more than made up for his slow start – winning Good Food Guide’s Chef to Watch accolade in 2013 and impressing at the stove of The Star Inn.
