Low & Slow Roasted Harissa Salmon

If you’ve been looking for an elegant dish that will impress your guests, try our Slow Roasted Harissa Salmon with Lemon Couscous. Baked in olive oil, the salmon stays moist and flaky, making it almost impossible to overcook!

I’ve had many salmon-fails come out of my kitchen.  It’s easy to do.  Cooking salmon at what is a normal temperature for most proteins means very little leeway between perfectly flaky salmon and dry and overdone fish.  Which is, if you ask my dad, “No beuno.”  You know what is beuno?  This Low and Slow Roasted Harissa Salmon.

How to Make Slow Roasted Harissa Salmon

We’re cooking this salmon at 275 degrees Fahrenheit and bathing it in a flavorful harrisa-packed oil.  What’s harissa?  It’s become a regular in my cooking and is a North African red chile sauce made with chiles, garlic, olive oil, citrus and spices.  When I’m cooking meals for the kids (yes, it’s perfectly suitable for children), I use a mild version, but the spicy ones are fab, too.  My grocery store carries harrisa, but you can find harrisa on Amazon, too.

I’m sure you can probably make your own harissa sauce, although I have yet to give it a go.  If you want to give it a try, this recipe seems to be popular, and would be perfect with our Slow Roasted Harissa Salmon recipe.

I tucked the thin part (on the right) underneath.

When picking out salmon – try to get salmon that is uniform in thickness.  If you can’t (and I didn’t, as seen in the photograph above), fold the thinnest portion of the salmon under so that it mimics the thickness of the center.  

Finally, and this may be controversial, but I think keeping the skin on the salmon makes the fish more moist and easier to cook.  Plus, #HankHarding (our dog) loves to eat it!  It’s super easy to peel off before serving.

What to serve with Slow Roasted Harissa Salmon

Looking for a few side dish ideas to serve with this entree?  Our Roasted Harissa Salmon (which I love to serve on top of the included Lemon Couscous recipe) would pair well with our Perfectly Charred Roasted Veggies with Lemon or the Balsamic Butter and Parmesan Asparagus found at the bottom of this blog post. 

Slow Roasted Harissa Salmon with Lemon Couscous

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

If you’ve been looking for an elegant dish that will impress your guests (or your family), try our Slow Roasted Harissa Salmon with Lemon Couscous. Baked in olive oil, the salmon stays moist and flaky, making it almost impossible to overcook

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Ingredients

Salmon Ingredients

• 2 pounds skin-on salmon filet (uniformly thick, if possible)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup Harissa sauce (mild or spicy)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced and seeds removed
• salt and pepper, to taste

Couscous Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• ½ onion, chopped
• 2 cups Pearled (Israeli) Couscous
• 2 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1 lemon, zested
• 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line a baking dish with aluminum foil, leaving enough overhang to fold completely over the salmon when baking.  
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil for the salmon, harissa and garlic.  Drizzle 2 Tbsp. on bottom of the prepared dish.  Smooth out over the foil.  Top with sliced lemons.  
3. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and place on top of the lemons.  Pour harissa oil on top and brush to cover the salmon.  Fold up the aluminum foil over the salmon to seal.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Uncover the salmon and baste with the oil from the pan.  Return to oven, resealed and bake another 10-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon and your preference for doneness.  
4. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat.  Add onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the couscous and cook, stirring occasionally until lightly golden.  Add chicken stock and lemon zest and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the herbs.
5. Plate the couscous on a serving dish and top with the salmon.  Drizzle any harissa oil on top.  Garnish with additional herbs if desired.

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