Recipe: Phyllo Crusted Salmon Fillets with Pure Basil Pesto (make ahead)

PHYLLO CRUSTED SALMON FILLETS

6 to 4 oz. salmon fillets, skin removed
Salt
Paprika
12 sheets phyllo pastry
6 teaspoons of Pure Basil Pesto (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons olive oil or olive oil spray

Check salmon for bones. Season the fish with salt and paprika.

Take 2 phyllo sheets and double them over. Lay a piece of salmon on the phyllo. Tuck any tail piece under the salmon, and top each piece of salmon with a teaspoon of pesto. Draw the phyllo up around the salmon and make a top knot by twisting the phyllo so that it stays in place. Snip off any excess phyllo from the top knot and place on a non-stick cookie sheet. Repeat this with the remaining five salmon fillets.

Refrigerate (covered with plastic wrap) until ready to cook. You may prepare the salmon to this point at least three hours ahead of the meal.

Just before dinner time, heat the over to 400 degrees F. Drizzle or spray olive oil over each of the salmon pockets and place in the oven for 15 minutes or until toasty brown. Remove and serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings
Per serving: 214 calories, 9 g. fat

PURE BASIL PESTO
Makes 1 cup

2 cups fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons dried onion bits
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1/4 cup good balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon olive oil
Several grindings of black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer.

All proceeds from this book benefit Save Our Youth of Denver. Save Our Youth was founded in order to "make a timely intervention in the lives of at risk youth though mentor relationships which provide the skills for success in educational, emotional and spiritual development."

Source: Cooking for My Friends by Diana M. Armstrong