Harissa salmon flatbreads

Harissa is a magical ingredient and a very useful thing to always have in the cupboard because it’s such a quick and easy way to impart a load of flavour to meat, fish or veg without the need for lots of other ingredients.

I especially love harissa with salmon – just spread it over salmon fillets, drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and then either bake in the oven (for around 12-15 mins on 180) or put under the grill (for 10 mins on high), then squeeze over some lemon juice once cooked. It’s a really simple but very effective way to cook salmon, which I often serve with a tabbouleh or couscous salad in summer but this time I had the idea to have it in a bit of a kebab-style wrap.

Serves 4

Prep: 15-20 mins
Cook: 10-12 mins

1 small or ½ a large red onion, finely sliced
50ml white wine vinegar
sugar
4 salmon fillets
4 heaped tsp harissa paste
olive oil
250g Greek yogurt
large handful (1/2 a supermarket pack) mint, leaves picked, stalks discarded
large handful (1/2 a supermarket pack) coriander (or parsley works for the coriander haters out there)
¼ red cabbage
3 medium carrots, peeled and/or thoroughly washed
1/2 lemon
pickled green (Guindilla) chillies or jalapeños
4 fluffy flatbreads or plain round naans (you’ll find the best ones in Turkish shops but you’ll find something similar in supermarkets. Just don’t use tortilla wraps – you want something more thick and kebab-like than that.)

1. First, put your finely sliced red onions into a bowl, add a few generous pinches of salt and two pinches of sugar, then pour over 50ml white wine vinegar. Scrunch it all together using your fingers then set aside to quick-pickle for at least 10-15 mins while you crack on with the rest.
   
   
2. Heat the grill to high and line a baking tray with foil. Place the salmon fillets on, skin-side down, then brush a heaped teaspoon harissa paste over each fillet, using the back of a spoon or a pastry brush. Drizzle each with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then grill for approx. ten mins, until cooked through (keep an eye on it as you want the top to start crisping but you don’t want the harissa to burn).
   
   
3. Now to make your herby yogurt: finely chop the herbs and stir them through the Greek yogurt with a pinch of salt and pepper (and I also like to add a splash of the liquid from the Turkish chilli/jalapeño jar for extra zing).
   
   
4. Finely slice the cabbage and coarsely grate the carrot then chuck both in a large bowl and mix together. Once your onions have been pickling for around 10-15 minutes and started to turn a bit pinker, tip them into the cabbage/carrot bowl along with all the pickling vinegar and toss to thoroughly combine.
   
   
5. Once the salmon is cooked, remove from under the grill and squeeze over the juice of the ¼ lemon, then gently break it up into chunks with a fork. To serve, gently warm the flatbreads in the microwave, a dry frying pan or in the oven. Spread each one with about 2 tbsp of the herby yogurt and a few handfuls of the veg mix, then flake over the salmon and finally finish with pickled chillies, another squeeze of lemon, and an additional scattering of herbs, if you like.
   

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