Wild Alaskan Red Sockeye Salmon in the 14.75 oz. can is acknowledged to be one of the cleanest and most potent sources of omega 3 fatty acids, calcium and protein. But did you ever open up one of those things? Eek! Its price is often compelling compared to the putatively dirtier, farm-raised fresh salmons, but how do you serve this stuff, skin and bones and all?
I came up with a solution, and you know it's got to be good if my young son looks forward to eating it. We have it twice a week! The best part is the recipe combines no less than 6 super foods in one neat package, 7 if you make the pesto with spinach. My mother's meatloaf was the inspiration, may God rest her soul.
Basil Pesto Sockeye Pie
2 eggs, beaten in a large bowl
1 can (14.75 oz.) Wild Alaskan Red Sockeye Salmon, drained
.5 cup Basil Pesto Sauce recipe
.5 cup Tomato Sauce, Semi Home Made
2 cups organic quick oats
To the bowl of beaten eggs, add the salmon and mash with ye old trusty cheapo hand-held potato masher until it no longer looks 100% disgusting. Stir in the basil pesto sauce and the tomato sauce. Then add in the oatmeal, mashing away, until thoroughly mixed.
Let it stand and soak while you do the following:
Preheat the oven on bake to 375 degrees F. Grab a 10" Pyrex pie plate and thoroughly grease it with vegetable shortening, like Crisco. Plop the salmon mixture into the pie plate and flatten it out using the potato masher. You can smooth the surface more finely to finish using a silicone spatula. Place the pie in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 35 minutes, checking that a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for five minutes or so and slice it like pie. Serve with ketchup generously drizzled on top, two slices per adult.
Additional notes:
1) Canned salmon is often very high in sodium, containing nearly 1900 mg. per can, according to the label on the brand I buy. How much of this gets tossed out when you drain the salmon is not stated. Doctors often say a healthy adult should consume no more than 2000 mg. per day. You can reduce the sodium in this recipe if you need to by leaving the salt out of the basil pesto recipe (the teaspoon of salt in that recipe amounts to 2360 mg. distributed over approximately 1.25 cups, or approximately 944 mg. in .5 cup prepared pesto). Otherwise your minimum sodium intake per slice could be as high as almost 400 mg., plus whatever's in the ketchup and the Pecorino Romano cheese.
2) Your choice of oats is also important. I often use 100% rolled oats instead of quick oats to give the recipe a "toothier" quality. Since these take a little longer to "cook" when you make oatmeal, in this recipe you can help them along with a little more soaking time in the mixture (covered in the refrigerator) and an extra half cup of the tomato sauce. The added benefit is all the goodness of the whole grain.
