Chef John's Baked Lemon Pepper Salmon

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Servings: 2
Yield: 2 servings

Description

This baked lemon-pepper salmon recipe uses lots of lemon juice and black pepper, along with mustard, miso, and mayo for flavorful wild salmon fillets.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon yellow miso paste
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 (8 ounce) center-cut salmon fillets, boned, skin on
sea salt to taste

Directions

1 Whisk together lemon juice and black pepper in small bowl. Add mayonnaise, miso paste, Dijon mustard, and cayenne pepper to lemon-pepper mixture; whisk together.
2 Spread the lemon-pepper mixture over salmon fillets. Reserve about a tablespoon for later use.
3 Cover salmon with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4 Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
5 Place fillets on the prepared baking sheet. Spread remaining lemon-pepper mixture on fillets without letting it pool around base. Sprinkle with a pinch more black pepper and a generous amount of sea salt.
6 Bake in the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes.