Salmon en croûte with fennel & dill salad

Our traditional Salmon en croûte is made using our sustainable Whole Side of Salmon and ready-made puff pastry, so it’s easier to put together than you might think. A beautiful mix of sweet and fresh tasting salmon, buttery pastry, aromatic dill and creamy mustard filling. Serve it with our simple fennel salad and keep the leftovers stowed away in the fridge – delicious for lunch the next day.

1 hour 30 mins

6-8

Hard

• Field & Flower Whole Side of Fresh Salmon
• 500g ready-made all butter puff pastry
• Plain flour for dusting
• 1 egg, beaten

For the filling:
• 150g cream cheese
• 1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
• 1 handful watercress, roughly chopped
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• Seasoning to taste

For the fennel salad:
• 8 x fennel bulbs, finely sliced
• 2 red onions, finely sliced
• 4 tbsp dill, chopped (plus extra to garnish)
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Seasoning to taste

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C and line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2. Mix together all of the filling ingredients and set aside.

3. Lightly flour the work surface and roll the puff pastry into an even rectangular shape, slightly more than twice the width of your fillet and about an inch longer than your salmon fillet in length at each end.

4. Spoon ¾ of the filling mixture onto the half of the pastry closest to you, spreading the mixture around to roughly cover the pastry.

5. Carefully remove the skin of the salmon with a knife, then place the salmon fillet on top of the side covered with the mixture, spooning the remaining mixture on top and spreading as evenly as possible.

6. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg (leaving some for glazing). Fold the pastry over the top of the salmon fillet and carefully press down each side, using your thumb to seal the edges (you can use a knife to remove any excess pastry and neaten up the edges). Score the pastry diagonally with a knife to decorate, then brush with the remaining egg.

7. Place the salmon en croute onto the lined baking tray and bake for 45 minutes (until the pastry is golden brown). Remove and leave to cool slightly before cutting.

8. Meanwhile, prepare your fennel salad by combining all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

9. Slice your salmon en croute using a sharp knife, being careful to use the point of the knife to keep the pastry neat. Serve together with the fennel salad, plus extra dill to garnish (if liked).