
Salmon Surprise
Fresh salmon on a crispy baked puff pastry sheet with aromatic dil, broccoli for added goodness. You can’t go wrong with this recipes!
Quick Stats
Easy
6 Servings
30 minutes bake time
Salmon Surprise
Fresh salmon on a crispy baked puff pastry sheet with aromatic dil, broccoli for added goodness. You can’t go wrong with this recipes!
Ingredients
- 1 x 320g Jus-Rol Puff Pastry Sheet
- 180g ricotta cheese
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
- 1 lemon, zest
- 250g raw salmon fillets (skinless and boneless), cut into chunks
- 100g sprouting broccoli, trimmed
- Fresh dill, to decorate
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Techniques Used
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How to Cook En Croute Puff Pastry
How to Cook En Croute Puff Pastry
En Croute describes the wrapping of a filling such as steak, salmon, chicken etc. in puff pastry and sealing it well to make for a moistly cooked filling encased in crisp, golden pastry.
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- Roll out the puff pastry as described in the pages ‘Rolling out Puff Pastry’, and cut into the desired size as stated in the recipe.
- Lay the filling on one half of the pastry – leaving a good border all round.
- Brush the pastry edges lightly with beaten egg – note -do not use too much egg as this will make it difficult to seal.
- Bring up the uncovered half of the pastry and fold it over the filling.
- Press edges firmly together.
- With a sharp knife trim off the edges to allow for a good rise.
- Then knock up the edges by holding the knife horizontally and taping it gently against the cut edges. This again helps to both seal the pastry and gives a good, risen edge.
- Flute the cut edges of the en croute as described in the Puff Pie tops and decorating section.
- Make a couple of slashes or slits in the top pastry to allow the steam to escape and brush the top with beaten egg before baking.
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How to Make Puff Pastry Pie Tops
How to Make Puff Pastry Pie Tops
- When making a pie with a pastry top or lid, choose a dish with a rim and allow the filling to get cold before topping with pastry. Roll out pastry large enough to cover dish and with some spare. Cut a strip slightly wider than the dish rim, from the sides of the rolled pastry.
- Brush rim with water or beaten egg. Place pastry strip on rim and press firmly, continue with further strips until all rim covered. Brush rim with beaten egg or water.
- Roll pastry up on the rolling pin to lift it (as described in ‘Rolling out Puff Pastry’ section and gently unroll it over the pie dish. Press pastry edges firmly.
- Using a sharp knife trim off excess pastry by cutting downwards against the edge of the dish. Keep trimmings for decoration.
- Knock up edges to form a good seal by holding a sharp knife horizontally against cut edge and gently tapping the pastry edge all round.
- Make a fluted edge by pressing your thumb of your left hand firmly down on the top of the pastry on the opposite side of the dish from you, whilst drawing the back of a knife inwards, against your thumb as shown. Continue until all edge is fluted. Make a small steam escape hole in centre of lid.
- Re roll trimmings as described in the ‘Rolling out Puff Pastry ‘ section, cut out several strips of pastry.
- Holding the knife at an angle, cut the strips diagonally to give diamond shapes. With the point of the knife mark veins on the pastry ‘leaves’.
- To make a ‘stalk’ cut slightly narrower strips and roll them beneath opened hands to form long cylinders.
- Finally, make ‘berries’ by gently pinching off a small piece of pastry . Roll it in the palm of your hand with the fingers of the other hand to form small balls/ berries.
- Brush pie top with beaten egg. Lay the leaves, stalks and berries on in your chosen pattern and press gently onto lid. Brush again before baking.
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How to Roll Puff Pastry
How to Roll Puff Pastry
- For best results when rolling out puff pastry use a large, clean dry area of the work surface and lightly dust it with plain flour.
- Place pastry dough on surface and lightly dust it and the rolling pin with flour.
- Roll pastry firmly, always rolling away from you, give the dough 2-3 rolls.
- Then turn the dough a quarter turn.
- Dust again if necessary and continue rolling out, frequently turning the pastry so it is not always rolled in the same direction as this causes shrinkage.
- When the pastry has increased in size, pick it up to turn by rolling it round the rolling pin.
- Lift the pin with the pastry around it carefully and turn it to lay out and continue rolling. Again this is done to prevent the pastry from stretching as you lift it which in turn would result in shrinkage in baking. Puff pastry should be rolled out to approx. 4-5 mm depth.
- To re- roll puff pastry once you have cut something out from the main piece, layer up all the trimmings, folding to achieve approximately an even stack.
- Press stack lightly together with fingers.
- Then roll out as before.
Method
- Preheat oven to 220°C / 200°C for fan assisted/ Gas 7
- Unroll the pastry, cut in half lengthways, cut each half into 3 and carefully place on a lined baking tray. Using a sharp knife, score a boarder around each piece of pastry, approximately 1cm wide, use a fork to prick the area inside the boarder.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes – if the middle of each tart has risen, simply press down with a palette knife, or similar.
- Meanwhile, place the trimmed broccoli into a pan of boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes. Drain and refresh under plenty of cold water and set aside.
- Combine the ricotta, egg and zest in a bowl and season before dividing the mixture between the pastry cases. Divide the salmon and broccoli between the pastry cases and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the salmon is cooked and the pastry is lightly golden and crisp.
- Garnish with fresh dill before serving.
Tips
- Take the pastry out of the fridge and remove from the packaging approximately 10 minutes before you are ready to use it, as it will be easier to work with.
- Delicious eaten hot, or cold!
- You can replace the broccoli with cherry tomatoes and garnish with fresh basil leaves for a colourful alternative!