People are always looking for dinner party and special-occasion ideas, and this recipe ticks all the boxes. You can get the dish prepared in advance, allowing you to relax and enjoy the evening as much as your guests, as all you have to do is bake and then carve the salmon.
Just be careful to really squeeze all the excess water out of the spinach after cooking. Also, when you’re carving use a really sharp knife or serrated knife. I’m sure if you try this it will become a favourite in your family, too.
Ingredients;
100g spinach, thick central stalks removed
100g watercress sprigs
1 garlic clove, peeled but left whole
Olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
30g cream cheese
2 tsp chopped dill
1½ tbsp creamed horseradish
300g puff pastry, thawed if frozen
Plain white flour for dusting
2 salmon fillets, about 250g each, skinned and pin bones removed
1 free range medium egg, beaten
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Method;
First prepare the spinach and watercress for the filling. Rinse the spinach and watercress well and shake dry. Spear the garlic clove with a fork. Heat a well-seasoned saute or frying pan over a medium-high heat, then add a splash of oil. When it is hot, add the spinach and watercress with just the water clinging to the leaves, season with salt and toss with the garlic until the spinach is just wilted. Tip into a sieve and squeeze out the excess water, then transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Wipe out the pan and reheat over a medium-high heat, then add another splash of oil. Add the shallot with a pinch of salt and saute for 1 minute before adding the spinach and watercress and mixing together. Remove the pan from the heat, transfer the spinach mixture to a bowl and leave cool completely.
When the spinach is cool, stir in the cream cheese, dill and horseradish, and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and set aside. Make room in your fridge for the baking sheet.
Roll out the puff pastry with a rolling pin on a very lightly floured surface into a 30cm square, about the thickness of a £1 coin. Pat the salmon fillets dry and season them with salt and pepper, then place one fillet in the centre of the pastry. Spread the salmon and watercress mixture over, then top with the remaining salmon fillet.
You now want to completely enclose the fillets in pastry. Use both hands to carefully lift the pastry and fold inwards to meet at the top, so both ends just overlap. Trim off any excess pastry to avoid a layer of unbaked pastry. Brush the edges and press together firmly to seal. Brush the pastry on both short ends with beaten egg and press together, again cutting off the excess pastry. You want about a half-centimetre gap between the edge of the salmon parcel and the pastry seals.
Carefully transfer the salmon parcel to the prepared baking sheet, seam side down. Brush the pastry all over with the beaten egg and chill for at least 20 minutes. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 200C fan/220C/gas 7. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the salmon wellington for 35 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
-The Independent
