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Cancato
Cancato: Chiloé salmon filled with cheese, tomato and pork longaniza
Cancato belongs to Chiloé and the lakes around Puerto Montt, where salmon is everyday food: a whole fillet is opened like a book, stuffed with melting cheese, tomato, onion and slices of longaniza (a pork sausage like chorizo), then wrapped and cooked over embers or in the oven. It is party food, cut at the table. The common mistake is putting raw sausage inside: it won't cook through before the salmon dries out. Fry it first. Chef's tip: wrap the parcel in foil with the seam on top and open it for the last 5 minutes, so the cheese browns while the salmon stays juicy.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ lb salmon filletin one piece, skin on, pin bones removed
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 5 ½ oz pork longaniza or cooking chorizosliced
- 5 ½ oz gouda or other melting cheesesliced
- 2 tomatoessliced
- ½ onionthinly sliced
- 1 oz butterin small pieces
- ½ tsp dried oregano
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan). Fry 5 ½ oz pork longaniza or cooking chorizo in a dry pan over a medium heat until browned and cooked through (160°F in the middle). Drain on paper.
8 minStep 2: Lay 2 ¼ lb salmon fillet skin side down on a large sheet of foil. Cut a deep slit along its length, without cutting through the skin, and open it out like a book. Season with 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper and 2 tbsp lemon juice.
Step 3: Fill the slit with layers of 5 ½ oz gouda or other melting cheese, 2 tomatoes, ½ onion and the sausage, then dot with 1 oz butter and sprinkle with ½ tsp dried oregano.
Step 4: Fold the salmon closed as far as it goes and wrap the foil loosely around it, with the seam on top. Bake for 20 minutes.
20 minStep 5: Open the foil and bake until the cheese is golden and bubbling and the salmon is opaque and flakes at the thickest part.
6 minStep 6: Cut into thick slices at the table and serve with boiled potatoes or salad.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 640 kcal
- Protein
- 56 g
- Carbs
- 6 g
- Fat
- 42 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cancato take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of salmon fillet?
- Trout or any firm white fish, same weight (check white fish a little sooner).
- What can I use instead of lemon juice?
- Lime juice, same amount.
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