Salmon en Croute

We eat a lot of Salmon in our house but it is usually just tossed in olive oil and roasted, pan fried or BBQ d. Then I suddenly remembered one of my old time favourite recipes for Salmon en Croute or salmon in pastry.
The dish I am talking about is in fact called a “Coulibiac” and is made from 2 whole fillets of salmon baked together with a filling of rice, spinach, Prawns and egg, wrapped in Puff pastry, MMM I know sounds delicious and It is.
My recipe below is a little different from the original as we don’t use boiled egg and precooked spinach. My recipe is a bit quicker and is unbelievably tasty served hot or even cold with a salad, it’s up to you.
There is also the added benefit of being able to make this in advance and keep chilled in the fridge for up to 12 hrs uncooked, so it’s great for that special function or get together when you are short of time you can pre prepare, Bonus.

INGREDIENTS

SALMON SIDES X 2 APPROX 1.1 KG (SKINNED AND DEBONED)
110 G PRECOOKED COLD LONG RAIN RICE (COOKED IN FISH STOCK)
100G SLICED BROWN BUTTON MUSHROOMS
50 G BUTTER
1 FREE RANGE EGG BEATEN plus extra for egg wash
6 TSPN CHOPPED MIXED HERBS (PARSLEY, CHIVES, DILL)
ZEST OF A LEMON + 1 TSPN JUICE
150G BABY SPINACH LEAVES WASHED.
180G COOKED PEELED PRAWNS

METHOD

• Saute of mushrooms in butter and season let to go cold
• To make stuffing, mix herbs, beaten egg, prawns and rice together, add in lemon zest and juice then finally the cold mushrooms, season and set aside.
• Roll out pre bought puff pastry into 2 squares one for the base and the second one large enough to be able to fold over the 2 fillets stacked on top of each other.
• Egg wash and place half the spinach on the base then place 1 salmon fillet presentation side up and spread with filling then top with second fillet also presentation side up.
• Egg wash and season salmon top then scatter on remaining spinach
• Finally fold over pastry, seal and egg wash. Yu could now decorate with pastry leaves if you so desire.
• Bake at 200 oC for approx 30 -40 mins till pastry is golden brown. If pastry starts to go black then cover with tin foil during cooking rest for 10 mins before cutting open to reveal the delectable goodness .
• Serve with a lime mayo and some hot buttered new potatoes or a light crisp salad with citrus yoghurt dressing