sking our Food Director, Michelle Southan, what she makes for dinner is my favourite convo of all time. For me, it’s the equivalent of asking Taylor Swift what her favourite song is.
With over 50,000 recipes banked up in her head from over 25 years of cooking, testing and developing recipes, knowing what Michelle cooks on a random Tuesday night is my Roman Empire.
And it turns out Michelle is just like the rest of Australia – she loves a tray bake! The one tray bake she loves above all others is a risoni one to be exact (the most underrated pasta, in my opinion!)
The dinner that makes a weekly appearance on Michelle’s dinner table is this Tuscan salmon and risoni tray bake.
READ MORE: The pantry staple we swear by for quick and easy dinners >
The best salmon tray bake recipe
There are so many things that make this dish a winner. Michelle says: “I am not a huge fan of heavy, creamy dishes, and this one looks creamy but is actually nice and light. The addition of chicken stock helps to reduce the heaviness of the cream.” This makes it absolutely perfect for the start of spring, when we’re all emerging from three months of comfort food.
Michelle also loves that “it can be all done in the one dish”. Because the less washing up, the better, right?
How to make this Tuscan salmon and risoni tray bake
This three-step recipe is as simple as browning salmon fillets, adding risoni, garlic, rosemary, stock cubes, cream and water, bringing it all to the boil, then baking for 12 mins. Just stir in semi-dried tomato strips and spinach, add broccolini and bake again for another 10 mins.
No broccolini? No worries. You can adapt this recipe to suit whatever you have in the crisper drawer. Michelle says: “I have tried this recipe with small florets of broccoli, asparagus and even thinly shredded green beans.”
Baked salmon: moist and full of flavour
To ensure perfectly moist salmon, follow Michelle’s top tip: “Only brown one side of the salmon, as suggested in the recipe, to achieve that nice golden crust. Finishing the cooking in the oven stops the salmon from drying out and cooks it perfectly.”
This low-touch dinner packs in the taste department, thanks to the little morsels of risoni that soak up all the flavour from the semi-dried tomatoes, stock and garlic. The first time I saw this recipe, I hesitated at the rosemary – it seems like such an overpowering herb for a delicate protein like salmon. But Michelle insists: “Rosemary adds so much flavour, so don’t hold back.”
Substitute salmon for chicken
Not a salmon fan? Michelle also uses this recipe as a base to create a chicken version, which means she can even use the recipe more than once in a single week! Swap out the salmon for chicken tenderloins, pan fry for a minute each side to sear, transfer to a plate, and follow the method in this recipe from step 2.
If you’re after a more budget-friendly option, you could use chicken thigh cutlets. Just pan fry the chicken until golden, and roast on a separate tray for 30 minutes. Place the chicken on top of the risoni, just like the salmon in step 3 and continue cooking for the last 10 minutes.
More of Michelle’s favourite dishes
So on the nights when Michelle isn’t making this tray bake (or a twist on it!), she has a few other dinner recipes on regular rotation:
- This warm nicoise pasta salad is a winner. Her tip is to double the anchovy, chilli, garlic and caper mix for a flavour-packed pasta salad.
- For a quick, weeknight dinner Michelle raves about this roast butter chicken and smashed potato number. It’s juicy, saucy, ridiculously easy (you only need 5 ingredients to make it), and the potatoes soak up all the flavours from the butter chicken marinade.
- This pork, lemongrass and toasted quinoa larb also got a shout-out as a quick, fresh, summery meal.
That’s all the info I got… for now (the time pressure got the best of me), but believe me, there will be a round 2.
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