Salmon with Red Pepper Sauce
This salmon with red pepper sauce has been one of our go-to meals for entertaining for 25 years. It’s a copycat recipe from Marx Bros. Café and is an impressive dish to serve for dinner parties and family gatherings.
If you’re a salmon lover like I am, this recipe should be part of your entertaining collection. The star of the dish is the roasted red pepper sauce with a taste that’s rich and slightly sweet. We make it to freeze in jars for months at a time, so it’s a quick and easy entree for hosting.
We use salmon fillets and cook them separately in the oven to streamline the process, but have also cooked it crispy on the stovetop. It really just depends on our mood. Then just nestle it into the pan of sauce or place it on a bed of sauce to serve.
This is perfect for a nautical themed dinner party or Christmas dinner. For grilling season you can plank-grill salmon with bbq glaze, or dress it up with fruit salsa.
Step-By-Step Photos for Sauce
Here are the steps for making the sauce, with photos to help guide you. The full directions are in the recipe card at bottom.
- Start by making a roux in a medium saucepan. Whisk it consistently until it turns a light golden brown color.
- Add broth, wine and red peppers to the roux, and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Transfer the sauce to a blender and process until smooth.
- Pour the sauce into a large skillet and add the cream and seasoning, and simmer.
- Simmer the sauce until it’s thickened to your liking, and add the cooked salmon into it and serve.
Make Ahead and Freeze
You can make a batch of the sauce and freeze it in batches in 8-ounce canning jars. To do this, follow the steps above, through step 4. Instead of letting it continue to simmer and thicken you will remove it and let it cool while it’s still on the thinner side. Then pour into jars and freeze.
Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in a large saucepan or skillet to thicken.
To Cook The Salmon
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and place salmon filets in a baking dish skin side down, and season with salt & pepper to taste. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until salmon flakes with a fork but is still moist and tender inside.
Serving Suggestion
You can serve the salmon covered in sauce, or ladle the sauce onto a plate or shallow bowl and place the salmon on top of it.
This is an elegant entrée ideal for the Christmas dinner party or a New Years Eve dinner party. Serve an elegant appetizer like marinated shrimp appetizer or baked scallops appetizers in shells.
Great starches to add to the menu are potatoes, wild rice dressing, or baked macaroni and cheese. Add a green salad or this marinated green bean salad to round out the meal.
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Salmon in Red Pepper Cream Sauce recipe
Baked salmon is served with creamy red pepper coulis sauce for an elegant dinner party entree.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup flour
- 3 cups chicken broth
- ¼ cup dry white wine (Chardonnay)
- 1 (12 ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained, patted dry, and chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 6 salmon filets, 4-5 ounces each
Instructions
- Melt butter over medium heat and whisk in flour. Cook for 5-7 minutes stirring constantly.
- Whisk in chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and add wine and red peppers. Allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Transfer mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Return mixture to pan over low heat and whisk in cream.
- Add cayenne, salt, and pepper, and keep warm until ready to serve.
- While sauce is simmering, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Place salmon filets in baking dish, with skin side down. Sprinkle with salt & pepper to season.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until salmon flakes with a fork.
- To serve, ladle about 1/8 - 1/4 cup onto low profile bowl or plate. Place salmon on top of coulis.
Notes
You can freeze the cooled sauce in lidded jars for up to 6 months.
