This comes from an Ottolenghi cookbook. It’s a great weeknight fish dish, and it finally got me to stock za’atar and sumac in my pantry. I’ll certainly credit the OTK team with the idea. That hasn’t stopped me from tinkering a bit and refining the instructions to accommodate my own foibles and knowledge gaps.

Speaking of za’atar, it’s rather confusingly both an herb on its own (like tarragon) and a spice blend. Here, I’m using the spice blend.

Ingredients

• 4 150 g filets salmon, skin-on, preferably center-cut
• 15 g za’atar
• 15 g sumac
• Olive oil
• 250 g baby spinach, washed and dried
• 90 g tahini
• 100 g water
• 40 g lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• Cilantro, roughly chopped
• Salt
• Pepper, freshly ground

Method

Preheat an oven to 230 °C (450 °F).

Combine the za’atar and sumac in a small bowl with a pinch of salt.

Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Generously cover the flesh sides of the salmon filets with the prepared herb mixture. Each filet should be completely covered.

Place a medium-size oven-safe frying pan over high heat, and add a film of olive oil until it shimmers. Then quickly wilt the spinach and remove the pan from the heat.

Lay the filets of salmon over the bed of spinach. Then transfer the pan to the oven for five minutes to begin cooking the fish.

Combine the tahini with the lemon juice, and then whisk the mixture together until it’s smooth. It may appear to seize; keep whisking. Then add the water and continue whisking to create a smooth sauce. It should be very liquid. Season with a small pinch of salt to taste and add the garlic.

Remove the pan with the fish from the oven, and the pour in the tahini sauce taking care to surround but not cover the fish.

Replace the pan in the oven for another two to five minutes to just finish cooking the salmon and slightly thicken the sauce.

Remove the pan from the oven again, and finish the dish with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice.

Serve the fish immediately. For serving, use a fish turner to remove each piece, and then spoon over the sauce-drenched spinach on the side.