Fish · Mains · One Pan

Sheet Pan Salmon,
Feta & Pesto

Salmon seasoned with smoked paprika and garlic, roasted with cherry tomatoes, crumbled feta, and half a head of roasted garlic. Finished with pesto and wilted spinach, then served on a base of your choice — white beans, puy lentils, giant couscous, farro, or zoodles. One pan, thirty minutes.

Servings 2 servings

Prep 15 min

Cook 30 min

Oven 190°C

Scale recipe

Base

Roasts in the pan · absorbs tomato and pesto juices

Ingredients

The Salmon

2 salmon fillets (~170 g each), skin off
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp black pepper, freshly ground
¼ tsp fine salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Sheet Pan

300 g cherry tomatoes
100 g feta, crumbled
½ bulb garlic, top sliced off to expose cloves
1 tbsp olive oil
240 g tinned artichoke hearts, drained and halved (optional — adds fibre)

Finish

120 g fresh spinach (about 4 cups)
3 tbsp pesto
to taste black pepper

The Base — White Beans

400 g tinned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

No cooking needed — the beans roast directly on the sheet pan and absorb the tomato and pesto juices.

The Base — Puy Lentils

400 g tinned puy lentils, drained (or 180 g dry — see step 1)

Tinned lentils are fastest. If cooking from dry: 180 g dry lentils in 500 ml salted water, 20–25 min.

The Base — Giant Couscous

150 g giant (pearl) couscous
300 ml vegetable stock or water
½ tsp fine salt

The Base — Farro

150 g quick-cook farro
400 ml water
½ tsp fine salt

Quick-cook farro takes 15 minutes. Standard farro takes 35–45 minutes — plan accordingly.

The Base — Zoodles

2 medium zucchini (~400 g total), spiralised
½ tsp fine salt, for tenderising

Method

1

Prepare the base no cooking needed

Open the tin, drain, and rinse the cannellini beans. Set aside — they go directly onto the sheet pan in step 3 alongside the tomatoes, roasting in the juices and absorbing all the pesto and garlic flavour. No further cooking needed.
1

Prepare the base tin: no cook · dry: 20–25 min

If using tinned lentils: drain, rinse, set aside to add at the end. If cooking from dry: bring 500 ml lightly salted water to a boil, add the lentils, reduce heat and simmer 20–25 minutes until tender. Drain, keep warm. Start this before the oven goes on so it's ready when the salmon is done.
1

Prepare the base ~12 min

Bring the stock or water to a boil. Add the giant couscous and salt, stir, reduce to a steady simmer and cook 10–12 minutes until tender with a slight bite. Drain any remaining liquid. Cover and keep warm. Giant couscous holds its texture well — don't rush it.
1

Prepare the base ~15 min

Bring 400 ml lightly salted water to a boil. Add the farro, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes until tender but with some chew remaining. Drain and keep warm. Quick-cook farro is worth seeking out; standard farro takes 35–45 minutes. Start this before the oven goes on.
1

Prepare the base 20 min salt-drain

Spiralise the zucchini into long noodles. Toss with ½ tsp salt in a colander set over the sink and leave to drain for at least 20 minutes. Just before serving, press the zoodles firmly between paper towels or wring in a clean tea towel until genuinely dry. Serve raw — the residual heat from the salmon and tomatoes is enough to warm them.
2

Start the sheet pan 190°C · 15 min

Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). Place the cherry tomatoes and crumbled feta on a large sheet pan. If using artichoke hearts, add them now too — halved and drained, they roast well alongside the tomatoes and pick up good colour. Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil, season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and toss loosely. Nestle the garlic half cut-side down in a corner. If using white beans: add the drained beans to the pan as well. Roast for 15 minutes.
3

Season the salmon ~3 min

While the tomatoes roast, combine the smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Pat the salmon fillets dry, then rub the spice mix all over. Drizzle with olive oil and press the spices in.
4

Add salmon and finish roasting 13–15 min

After the tomatoes have had 15 minutes, push them to the sides and lay the salmon fillets on the pan. Return to the oven for 13–15 minutes, until the salmon flakes easily at the thickest part. Check the garlic — the cloves should squeeze out easily as a soft paste. Squeeze all the cloves directly onto the pan and discard the skins.
5

Wilt, pesto, mix ~2 min

Remove the pan from the oven. Scatter the spinach over the hot pan and toss — it wilts in about 60 seconds from the residual heat. Add the pesto and the squeezed roasted garlic. Use a fork to shred the salmon directly in the pan, then toss everything together until the salmon is distributed throughout the tomatoes, feta, and spinach. If using lentils, farro, or giant couscous: stir a generous spoonful of the base into the pan to coat it in the pan juices.
6

Plate serve immediately

Spoon the base into wide shallow bowls. Top with the salmon and tomato mixture. The pan juices mixed with pesto act as the dressing — nothing more is needed.

Nutrition

Per 1 serving (~500 g) · White beans base · Estimates only

        Calories
        745
        kcal
      

Protein 47 g

Fat 48 g

Net Carbs 31 g

Fibre 8 g

Per serving with white beans (~500 g composed plate). Protein is primarily from salmon (~34 g total per serving), with beans and feta contributing the remainder. Fat is largely unsaturated — olive oil, salmon omega-3, and pesto. Base choice meaningfully affects fiber and carbs: white beans and lentils give ~8–12 g fiber per serving; couscous and farro give ~4–6 g; zoodles give ~2–3 g.

Notes

The roasted garlic

Half a bulb sounds like a lot — it isn't. Roasting at 190°C converts the harsh allicin to sweet, mellow compounds; the cloves collapse to a paste that becomes part of the sauce. Squeeze every last clove in. Using less defeats the purpose.

Salmon doneness

13–15 minutes at 190°C gives just-cooked salmon that flakes cleanly. Fillets under 2.5 cm thick — check at 11 minutes. The fish continues cooking off the heat, so lean slightly underdone. It should be opaque throughout but still moist when pressed.

Base choice and fiber

Zoodles and giant couscous are lower in fiber (~2–4 g per serving). White beans, puy lentils, and farro are substantially higher (8–12 g per serving). If fiber is a priority for the meal, beans or lentils are the meaningful choice. Farro sits in the middle and has the best flavour of the grain options.

Scaling up

The sheet pan gets crowded at 3+ servings — use two pans and rotate halfway through. Salmon and tomatoes need space to roast, not steam. A crowded pan produces soggy results.

Storage

The salmon and pan mixture keeps 3 days refrigerated. White beans and lentils also keep 3 days in the same container. Giant couscous and farro reheat in a pan with a splash of water. Reheat salmon at 150°C for 8 minutes loosely tented with foil.

Sheet Pan Salmon,Feta & Pesto

Sheet Pan Salmon,
Feta & Pesto