This is so simple to put together – a portion of salmon, a handful of green beans, a dollop of good-quality pesto and a little squeeze of lemon juice. Such a great combination. It’s lovely with rice, new potatoes or crusty bread. If you want to impress, unwrap the parcels at the table and serve straight from them.

serves 2

Ingredients

• • 2 handfuls of green beans
• • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• • 2 lemons
• • 2 x 150g chunky salmon fillets, skin on, scaled and bones removed
• • 2 heaped tablespoons green pesto
• • olive oil

To prepare your salmon

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• Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6
• Trim your beans by cutting off the stalk ends but leave the wispy tips on
• Put the beans into a large pan of boiling water with a pinch of salt and cook for 3 to 4 minutes

To prepare your salmon

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• 

• Halve one of the lemons
• Get yourself just under a metre of kitchen foil and fold it in half to give you two layers
• Drain and put half of the green beans in the middle of the foil

To prepare your salmon

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• 

• Lay a salmon fillet, skin-side down, across the beans and spoon over a good tablespoon of green pesto (see Classic basil pesto)
• Drizzle with olive oil, squeeze over the juice from one of the lemon halves and season with salt and pepper

To prepare your salmon

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• 

• Pull the foil edges together and scrunch them up to seal the parcel
• Repeat these steps to make your second salmon fillet parcel and place both foil parcels on a baking tray

To cook and serve your salmon

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• Put the baking tray into your hot oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of your fillets
• Remove the tray from the oven and let it stand for a minute before carefully unwrapping and checking that the salmon is cooked through
• Either serve the foil parcels on plates as they are, or carefully unwrap them before serving • Cut the remaining lemon in half and serve on the side for squeezing over
• Nice served with new potatoes, rice (see Fluffy rice) or chunks of crusty bread