Little Dish’s Salmon & Pesto

I was very kindly sent this baby- / child-friendly recipe book some time ago now, when my little one was beginning to move on from ‘mush’ to real food.

The book contains several weaning recipes, including purees, then moves to meals which can be easily mashed, and on to quick and simple family meals.  Many of them I already make and have my own recipes for, such as baked fish, lasagne or burgers, but there are a few new combinations that I thought I’d give a go. My first effort was Salmon and Pesto. I’d have never thought to put pesto with salmon, choosing instead to stir into pasta or maybe add to a white fish, so was intrigued as to how this would turn out. My little one is now much preferring to eat with her hands and attempt to use a fork, and has given up completely on ‘mush’, even though it’s sometimes so much simpler and faster from my point of view! And I’m struggling to find quick and tasty meals to make for her that differ from pasta, ham and cream cheese, so this seemed like a good place to start.
The book said that preparation time was 5 minutes and cooking time 15, and those were about right, especially if you’ve got your breadcrumbs made in advance. You can find the actual recipe here or use my paraphrased version.
You’ll need:

4x125g salmon fillets
145g tub fresh basil pesto (I used it from a jar as I couldn’t find fresh)
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
40g fresh breadcrumbs

General Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
After checking the salmon carefully for bones, lay skin side down on a baking dish.
Mix the pesto, bread crumbs and lemon juice and spread over the salmon.

Bake for around 15 mins, or until the salmon is cooked through.

I served it with rice with peppers and raisins for Frankie, and added toasted nuts to the rice for the grown ups.

As you can see, she was a hungry little bird today and obviously very much enjoyed it, as did we. This recipe is so quick and easy I’ll definitely be making it again!