Baked Salmon Stuffed with Mascarpone & Spinach

By ginasheppard

Ingredients

• 1 - 10 oz. bag fresh spinach leaves, or 1/2 package frozen, cooked spinach, squeezed
• 1/2 C. cream cheese (about 4 oz.), room temperature
• 1/2 C. mascarpone cheese, room temperature
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• 8 , 6-to-8 oz. salmon fillets without skin (each about 1 inch thick)
• Olive oil
• 2 2/3 C. fresh breadcrumbs from French bread with crust
• 1/2 C. (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1/2 C. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

Cook spinach in large pot of boiling water just until wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain: rinse with cold water. Squeeze spinach dry, then finely chop. Place in small bowl. Mix in cream cheese, mascarpone and ground nutmeg. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cut one 3/4-inch deep, 2 1/2-inch-long slit down center of top side of each salmon fillet, forming pocket for spinach mixture. Fill each slit with spinach mixture, dividing equally among salmon fillets. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill.)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Sprinkle salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Mix breadcrumbs, melted butter and Parmesan cheese in medium bowl. Top each salmon fillet with breadcrumb mixture, pressing to adhere. Place salmon fillets on prepared baking sheet. Bake salmon until opaque in center, about 12 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve.