Sauce Vierge on Lemon Steamed Salmon

One of the first recipes I made my family after going to cooking school was something called sauce vierge. It’s this French sauce made with fresh tomatoes, herbs, olive oil, and salt. Super simple, and something you guys have to make during tomato season 🙂 All you do is combine everything together and let this sit for 15 or so minutes. I’m topping this on a simple lemon steamed salmon, but it’s great on any seafood. 

For someone who grew up without eating much western food or herbs, this dish blew my mind. It makes a dish so elegant, even though it’s so simple to make. Pair with some crispy smashed potatoes and charred veggies and I promise you’ll impress anyone.

The original recipe we learned in Culinary School had us peel the tomatoes. I’ve learned over the years that peeling the tomatoes is nice to have, but sometimes not worth the effort. Especially if you’re using ripe summertime tomatoes, you can use the tomatoes with the skin on. I also prefer less oil to tomato ratio. I usually just add enough oil to cover all the tomatoes and herbs, but you can feel free to modify based on what you prefer.

How to make the sauce vierge:

1. Dice the tomatoes into 1/4″ pieces. Add this to a large mixing bowl.
2. Chop the herbs and all this to the bowl with the tomatoes along with the olive oil and salt. Give everything a good mix, taste, adjust with more salt as desired, and let sit for at least 15 minutes.

How to make the lemon steamed salmon:

To make the salmon, add a piece of parchment paper to a medium sized pan. No water needs to go under the parchment. Add 4 pieces of sliced lemon to the pan, then add the fish on top. Season with salt and pepper, then top with the remaining lemon slices. Add the neutral oil and white wine, then cover and let cook for 10 minutes on medium high heat. Depending on your stove, you may need to use medium heat to prevent the parchment paper from burning.

• You can substitute water or broth if you don’t have white wine.
• Be sure to close the parchment paper, as the salmon steams inside the parchment.

Add the salmon to a plate. Top with a couple spoonfuls of the sauce vierge, then enjoy.

Fish serves 2, there will be extra Sauce Vierge that you can use for numerous other things!

Looking for more recipes? Check out these recipes:

• Kale Salad with Sauce Vierge
• Easy Petrole Sole with Sauce Vierge

These 2 recipes use sungold tomatoes rather than early girl tomatoes, but you can feel free to use either. If eating sauce vierge the next day, be sure to bring back to room temperature as the oil may have solidified in the refrigerator overnight.

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