Confit of salmon, pickled cucumber, ricotta and lemon

Shaun Dickens of the Boathouse in Henley shares his recipes with Standard readers.

AT this time of year as winter is starting to draw in, it’s easy to get into eating lots of comfort food, like lovely roast dinners, thick soups and fluffy mashed potato. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, except that if you overdo it with the comforting carbs you may start to pile on the pounds — even before Christmas!

This fresh, zingy recipe is the perfect antidote to winter. You can serve it as a lovely starter, or bulk it up with some fresh peppery salad leaves for a light and healthy main. Either way, the combination of cool salmon, home-made pickled cucumber and lemony ricotta will give you a last little blast of summer.

Ingredients:

4 portions of salmon

100g brown sugar

50g salt

25g oil

For the pickled cucumber:

1 cucumber

150ml white wine vinegar

150ml water

50g sugar

Pinch salt

Pinch mustard seeds, fennel seeds, oregano, garlic and thyme

For the ricotta and lemon dressing:

200g ricotta

25g capers

Zest of 1 lemon

Finely chopped shallot

Finely chopped parsley

Method:

Mix the salt and sugar together and heavily sprinkle over the salmon and leave for one hour.

Wash off the salmon and pat dry.

Wrap in cling film very tight and ensure completely air tight. Then poach in a pan of water, roughly 60 degrees for 16 minutes

Bring all the pickling liquor ingredients to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes then cool.

Slice and wedge the cucumber and submerge in the liquor. Leave for 24 hours

Mix all the ricotta ingredients together.