Pesto seasoned salmon or steelhead is a recipe worth trying.
April 30, 2025
By Jim Edlund
Props for part of this recipe goes out to my friend and fellow fishing writer, David Rose, of Midland, Michigan. While visiting him years ago, I asked him how we were going to prepare the lake trout and steelhead we caught.
“Simply,” he replied with a smile.
The Fish And Dave’s recipe couldn’t be any easier. It requires only a few ingredients: steelhead, lake trout, or salmon fillets, a jar or two of store-bought pesto, and liberal dashes salt and pepper; in my case, some Catch & Cook smoked salt.
Goes like this: Cut the fillets into halves or thirds (skin removed), sprinkle aluminum foil with olive oil, place fish on foil, coat the entire top of the fish in a layer of pesto, and place on the grill for 30 minutes at approximately 300 degrees. If you don’t have a grill or high-temp smoker (i.e. Traeger pellet grill), simply place on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for the same. What emerges from the ease is taste-bud goodness.
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While eating the basil and olive-oil infused trout or salmon is good on its own or with a simple leafy salad, I’ve found it goes even better with pesto-infused angel hair pasta, which isn’t difficult to make either.
Salmon or steelhead fillets before they go onto the grill. INGREDIENTS (6) pieces of steelhead or salmon fillets (1) jar pesto Catch & Cook smoked salt Olive oil Aluminum foil PESTO ANGELHAIR Ingredients
(1) package of angelhair noodles (1) a couple teaspoons of olive oil (1) jar of pesto freshly grated parmesan cheese Grilled salmon with pesto is worth a try! Boil noodles until al dente (not overcooked and mushy like me), strain, add a couple teaspoons of olive oil and mix, then empty contents of one pesto jar and stir thoroughly. Sprinkle pasta (and fish if you like) with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
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Enjoy!
