Salmon Stuffed with Spinach and Marscarpone and a Panko Crust

 One of the great things about this recipe is it leaves you ready to make a nice accompany sauce for a the salmon or to put over pasta simply by dicing a shallot and garlic and sauteing; add some white wine, chicken stock and reduce; a bit of tomato paste then finish with your leftover marscarpone cheese and a bit of parmesan and you have a wonderful side sauce.  The fish is amazing on it's own and very simple with a big "wow factor".  A great end to the day for dinner.

 Salmon Stuffed with Spinach and Marscarpone 

and a Panko Crust

3/4 lb salmon fillet, thick center cut, boneless and skinless - you will slice this in half and create a "pocket" by slicing into the fattest part of the center piece on each, and slice through approximately 3/4 of the the way to leave the fillet intact on the on long edge as well as the sides

9 oz bag of spinach
4 oz marscarpone cheese, softened to room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature (you can substitute and extra 4 oz of marscarpone in place of the cream cheese)
2 Tbsp chopped red onion (or 2 Tbsp freeze dried red onion from Lighthouse)
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1 cup panko
1 Tbsp dried Italian seasoning
4 Tbsp parmesan cheese

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the spinach until wilted, approximately 2 minutes.  Drain well and set aside until cool then wring out as much water as possible and chop finely.

In a mixing bowl, combine the chopped spinach with the marscarpone, cream cheese and red onion.  Fill this into the pockets that were sliced into the salmon steaks.  You can do this a few hours ahead of time and keep refrigerated.

Melt the butter and combine with the panko, Italian seasoning, and parmesan.

Place the stuffed salmon on non-stick aluminum foil on a baking sheet.  Press the panko mixture on top firmly.  Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown on top and salmon has cooked through.