Salmon and Pesto Rice Bake

There's nothing like fresh fish. Healthy, nutritious and delicious. But how fresh actually is your fish? You might be surprised to know that recent research had shown that Iceland's freshly frozen fish fillets are actually fresher than those found on the fish counter of a leading supermarket. When you start to think about it, the reasons for frozen being fresher than fresh are obvious. If a fish is caught and frozen immediately (which often occurs at sea in factory boats) you literally stop the clock. The freshness is frozen in and nutritionally nothing is lost. However fresh fish on a supermarket fish counter could have been caught days if not weeks ago. There's something fishy going on there! 

As well as being fresher, frozen fish can often be better value and less wasteful. It's recommended that we eat 2 portions of fish a week with one of those being an oily fish. Even as a real fish and seafood lover I don't always manage this however by keeping a stash of Iceland's award winning fish products which include salmon, seabass, red snapper and scallops in your freezer you'll be well prepared for conjuring up fishy feasts in a flash! For something a touch more exotic be sure to check out their new Seafood Dishes Range. Frutti Di Mare, Sugo Alle Vongole, Guazzetto Di Mare and Zuppa Di Pesce. They've all been created to traditional Italian recipes and can be cooked from frozen in 9 minutes. Combine with pasta for a quick and easy meal just like an Italian Mamma would make. 

Time to unleash my inner Elsa and unlock the Power of Frozen with my recipe for Salmon and Pesto Rice Bake. I've used a pack of Fish Market 4 Atlantic Salmon Fillets which retails at £6. These are skinless and boneless and come individually wrapped and cook from frozen in the microwave in only 3 minutes (30 mins in an oven). They've been approved by Good Housekeeping and are a staple in my freezer. I've combined them with a couple of pouches of frozen ready cooked white rice. This one pot dish takes very little time to throw together and makes a perfect family midweek meal. You can substitute the frozen rice with any type of precooked rice if that works better for you. Or you can use uncooked rice and increase the quantity of water to 600ml. Cook the rice/pesto/vegetable mix for 30 minutes before adding the salmon in this case. That's your one portion of oily fish sorted for this week!

Salmon and Pesto Rice Bake

4 Iceland Fish Market Atlantic Salmon Fillets

2 Sachets (400g) of Iceland Cooked White Rice

1 Onion, finely sliced

150g Mushrooms, sliced

75g Pesto

100ml water

Salt & Pepper

To serve - Toasted Pine Nuts, Shaved Parmesan and Fresh Basil 

Preheat your oven to 200c

Into a large ovenproof dish place the sliced mushrooms, onions and rice and mix well.

Brush the top of the salmon fillets with some of the pesto.

Combine the remaining pesto with 100ml of water, pour over the rice mixture, season well with salt and pepper and stir through until combined.

Nestle the pesto coated salmon fillets on the top of the rice.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Serve topped with toasted pine nuts, shaved Parmesan and fresh basil.

Check out what other bloggers have been cooking up with the fabulous frozen fish range

• Bintu's Salmon Polenta Bowls with Roasted Tomato and Pesto
• Lucy's One-pan Cod with Chorizio and Chickpeas
• Claire's Seafood & Kale Pie with Parmesan Puff
• Camilla's Grilled Salmon with Citrus Tamari Dressing 
• Jane's Pollock and Grilled Corn Curry
• Helen's Salmon Pasta in a Creamy Garlic & Herb Sauce
• Claire's BBQ Sardines with Wild Garlic Salsa Verde and CousCous Salad
• Charlotte's Warm Salmon & New Potato Salad 
• Andrea's Spicy Scallops with Pumpkin Puree

Disclosure : This is a commissioned recipe for Iceland Foods. As always, all views expressed are my own.

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