Salmon en Croute Preparation: 40 minutes Cooking: 30 minutes Serves: 8 guests 2 pounds fresh salmon, skinned with pin bones taken out 2 tablespoons butter 1 shallot, peeled and diced small 1 pound fresh baby spinach, cleaned ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper ½ teaspoon kosher salt 8 6-by-6-inch pieces of puff pastry dough (no thicker than ¼ inch) Egg wash: 1 egg, beaten 1 tablespoon cream
Cut salmon down middle of each fillet lengthwise. You should end up with 8 4-by-4-inch pieces of salmon. You may also have a butcher cut them for you. Place fillets in refrigerator until needed. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add butter to pan, quickly add shallots, and sauté for 30 seconds. Add fresh spinach and a pinch of salt and pepper to shallots, and sauté until spinach is completely wilted. Remove from heat. Place puff pastry square on a floured surface. Place 2 tablespoons of cooked spinach mixture in the center of each pastry square. Place raw salmon squares on top of spinach. Season salmon with a pinch of salt and pepper. For each packet, fold one side of puff pastry dough over top of salmon piece, stretching dough as needed, and then fold other side to overlap puff pastry dough. Carefully roll back overlapped dough to expose salmon through an eye-shaped hole in top only. The edges should remain overlapped. Pinch edges of the dough with a fork, then trim as you would a pie crust. Brush dough with egg wash (mix beaten egg and cream) to get a golden-brown color when baking. Transfer salmon en croute to a cookie sheet and place in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, until they are a rich golden brown. Salmon will be cooked perfectly. Serve with Lemon Dill Butter Sauce (see recipe on page 62).
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