The ultimate makeover: Salmon en croûte
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The ultimate makeover: Salmon en croûte

Angela Nilsen makes a super healthy version of the classic pastry wrapped fish parcel without losing the wow factor

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

Freezable

Super healthy, Heart healthy

FREEZE unbaked (but only if salmon has not been previously frozen)

Method

  1. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Tip in the shallots and fry for 2-3 mins to soften, then add the mushrooms and garlic, and stir-fry over a high heat for another 3-4 mins, or until the mushrooms and shallots are golden and any liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated. Pour in the lemon juice - after a few seconds, that should have evaporated too. Remove from the heat, then stir in the watercress so it wilts in the warmth from the pan (see step 1). Stir in the dill and chives, and season with a little salt and pepper. Leave to cool.
  2. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. When the mushroom mix is cool, stir in the crème fraîche. Lay one of the filo sheets on the worktop with the short end facing you. Brush all over with a little of the remaining oil. Layer up 4 more of the filo sheets in the same way, brushing each with a little of the oil.
  3. Lay one of the salmon fillets, skin-side up, across the width of the filo, positioning it about one-third of the way up. Season it with pepper. Spoon and spread the cooled mushroom mix over the top of the fillet (see step 2). Lay the other salmon fillet on top, skin-side down. Season again. Fold the short end of pastry nearest to you over the salmon, then bring the other end over to completely enclose the salmon (see step 3), lifting it so the join can tuck under it. Fold both pastry ends over as neatly as you can.
  4. Brush the outside with a bit more of the remaining oil. Scrunch up the last sheet of filo, pressing it lightly on top in big folds (see step 4), then carefully brush with the last of the oil. Can be prepared 3-4 hrs ahead up to this point and chilled. Transfer the salmon parcel to the baking sheet. Bake for 25 mins until the pastry is crisp and golden. Check while it cooks and if the top starts to brown too quickly, lay a sheet of foil very loosely over it. Remove from the oven and let the salmon sit for 2-3 mins before slicing.

PER SERVING

331 kcalories, protein 26.6g, carbohydrate 11.6g, fat 20.2 g, saturated fat 4.1g, fibre 1.1g, sugar 1g, salt 0.47 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2011.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo Gill Williamson

    22 December 2011

    Gill Williamson commented on this recipe

    I am making this for Christmas Day and have frozen it unbaked as suggested but the recipe doesn't say whether you need to defrost it before cooking or if you can cook it from frozen and also how long to cook it from frozen.

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  • Binder photo Yummyfood

    04 January 2012

    Yummyfood commented on this recipe

    I made this for a post Christmas dinner and froze it as instructed. I defrosted it for some 6 or 7 hours at room temperature and cooked it according to the instructions. It took about 10 minutes longer to brown and when we cut into it, the fish was not entirely cooked through, so we had to put porions in the microwave. Our guests enjoyed the dish anyway and I would certainly like to do it again - could recipes be more explicit about timings after freezing perhaps? Thanks Lesley Gallagher

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  • Binder photo sister8x

    14 January 2012

    sister8x rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is delicious, will definately be making it again. I used spinach instead of watercress and had salad with mustard pots. to accompany. This is first time I have used filo pastry and I was delighted with how easy it is. If frozen, perhaps it needs to be left out the night before!.

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  • Binder photo sunshine-fairy

    27 January 2012

    sunshine-fairy rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I used this recipe to make individual filo parcels, as I only had fillets in the freezer, not one big piece of fish. I had to use spinach instead of watercress, but it was absolutely delicious. I made a mushroom and tarragon cream sauce to go with it, and it ended up being fairly posh! Everyone loved it. I've made it again since, using sea bream fillets instead of salmon and that was just as nice.

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  • Binder photo faitharnold

    21 March 2012

    faitharnold commented on this recipe

    If using separate salmon fillets and doing separate parcels like sunshine-fairy, can anyone tell me how this alters the timings? Am in the same predicament of not having a single bit piece of fish but would love to make it for dinner.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

Freezable

Super healthy, Heart healthy

FREEZE unbaked (but only if salmon has not been previously frozen)

Ingredients

Print this recipe
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PER SERVING

331 kcalories, protein 26.6g, carbohydrate 11.6g, fat 20.2 g, saturated fat 4.1g, fibre 1.1g, sugar 1g, salt 0.47 g

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