Salmon coulibiac
See this recipe step by step

Salmon coulibiac

This majestic fish pie makes a brilliant dinner party centrepiece which can be prepared ahead

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 30 mins

Plus cooling and resting
Freezable

Can be frozen uncooked

Method

  1. First, get everything prepared. Boil a pan of salted water, add the eggs and cook for 8 mins exactly. Drain and cool under cold water, then peel and set aside.
  2. Heat half the butter in a non-stick frying pan and sizzle the slices of salmon for 1 min on each side (Pic 1), just to firm up the fillets but not cook them all the way through. Lift the salmon onto a plate.
  3. Now cook the rice. Melt the rest of the butter in the same pan. Add the onion, cumin and coriander seeds, cardamom and star anise, then gently fry for 8 mins until golden. Stir in the rice and add the bay leaf and cinnamon stick (Pic 2), then pour over the stock and season generously. Cover and bring to the boil, then lower the heat to its lowest setting and continue to cook for 10 mins. Turn off the heat and leave covered for 10 mins, then stir through the lemon zest and juice. Set aside to cool. This can be done several hrs in advance. Once cool, stir though the chopped dill.
  4. To assemble the pie, roll out one of the pieces of pastry to a rectangle as wide but a third longer than this magazine (23 x 40cm), then lay on a baking tray. Pack half the rice along the middle of the pastry, discarding the star anise and cinnamon as you do so, leaving a good 5cm border around the edge. Lay the salmon over the rice, then slice the eggs and lay those over the whole salmon layer (Pic 3). Top the eggs with the remaining rice and use your hands to gently pack everything down to a firm, even shape. Brush any stray grains of rice off the border, then brush the border with beaten egg,
  5. Roll the second piece of pastry out to a rectangle slightly larger than the first. Drape over the coulibiac and gently press the edges to seal the 2 pastry sheets together. Trim the edges to neaten and crimp with your fingers or press down with a fork. The uncooked pie can now be chilled, on the baking sheet, for a day or frozen for up to 2 months.
  6. To cook, heat oven to 220C/200C fan/ gas 7. Brush the pie all over with beaten egg and, if you want, lightly score the pastry with the back of a knife in a criss-cross fashion, making sure you don't cut all the way through (Pic 4). Bake for 20 mins, then reduce the heat to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and continue to cook for 20 mins until golden brown. Leave to rest for 10 mins, then serve in thick slices with a bowl of Dill cream or Herb salsa (see recipes, below).
Try

Herb salsa

Snip 2 small bunches chives into a bowl with small bunch parsley, chopped and small bunch dill, chopped. Add juice 1 lemon and enough olive oil to loosen.

Dill cream

Mix 300ml pot soured cream with small bunch dill, chopped.

Make it easier

If the idea of layering everything up seems like too much effort, you can make a mixture of flaked salmon and chopped egg and simply use that instead.

Per serving

917 kcalories, protein 47g, carbohydrate 73g, fat 51 g, saturated fat 29g, fibre 3g, sugar 3g, salt 7.63 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2010.

Try 3 issues of Good Food magazine for £3 - subscribe now!

Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo Elizabeth

    11 September 2010

    Elizabeth rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This really is spectacular and yet pretty easy to put together. Very tasty and has the 'wow' factor with looks and taste.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Lynn Fixter

    14 September 2010

    Lynn Fixter rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Just made this pie, it looks wonderful, took a bit of time but I hope my family feel its worth it.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Frogtrans

    21 September 2010

    Frogtrans rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this at the weekend. It was excellent! We all loved it, even our 13 months old little girl! Takes a bit of time but I did it the day before so on the day I just had to put it in the oven. We'll do it again soon.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo npriya

    13 October 2010

    npriya rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I made this for a luncheon for 8 people. It tasted amazing and looked very majestic. I had so many compliments and I will certainly be making this again. It was very straightforward to make too.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo FLEUR

    06 January 2011

    FLEUR rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    V impressive and delicious - served it with the dill cream and it was a big hit!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Naomi

    04 April 2011

    Naomi commented on this recipe

    looks great, want to make this for a dinner party on Friday, but was wondering what you served with it as well as the dill cream/salsa? Thanks

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo iamac

    26 May 2011

    iamac rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I cooked this with leek instead of an onion and also instead of all those spices, I used curry powder and chives instead of dill. I served this pie with a mixed salad or sometimes I serve it with asparagus and corn on the cob or other vegetables.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Lydiat.

    14 June 2011

    Lydiat. rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I cooked this last week as an experiment for guests in the future, my son said it was great! I used cheap vegetable rice and added a small teaspoon of biryani spice mix. The overall result was very good. Will def. do it again.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo holly x

    16 August 2011

    holly x rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    very tasty! especially the rice! and looked very professional,could find star of anise but didnt seem to effect the taste,will def make it again! great for an evening meal,lunch or cold at a picnic,strongly recommended x

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo johanna

    26 November 2011

    johanna commented on this recipe

    made it last year for an non-meat Christmas dinner and it was perfect. Especially as you can do the major work beforehand. I think this year merits a repeat

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo irritable

    15 January 2012

    irritable rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Worth the effort and definitely dinner party material! The rice is superb and l'll copy this for making other meals. Dill cream was excellent - and so simple - although I think would work just as well with low fat youghurt.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo ennyl

    03 February 2012

    ennyl rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I have made this twice and it is the perfect dinner party main course as, although it is a bit fiddly, it can all be done well in advance - so nice tidy kitchen and serene hostess when guests arrive! It tastes delicious and looks amazing.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Zac

    02 March 2012

    Zac rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this for my sister's dinner. It went down a treat! only 7 people for the dinner, and they ate the whole thing! It does take a bit of time, but it is not difficult at all, and totally worth it. The taste, the look and the compliments made it all worth while.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Malta99

    27 March 2012

    Malta99 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely love this recipe, a work colleague told me about this recipe but could not remember how to make it. Googled it and came across this one and it is by far the best one I.ve tried.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo CathE

    09 May 2012

    CathE commented on this recipe

    This is the first time I have used this particular receipe although I have made one before. This is the first time I have frozen the prepared coulibiac and I wonder how this affects the cooking time. Should I defrost first or cook from frozen? Can anyone help?

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Karen

    24 June 2012

    Karen commented on this recipe

    Hi CathE. I would definitely defrost in the fridge first.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Lois

    25 August 2012

    Lois commented on this recipe

    Made Coulibiac a few times. One recipe that I used said use fresh spinach aswell. So a layer of rice, then spinach, then Salmon then egg, another of spinach and finally another rice. Use plenty of seasoning. Nice with New Potatoes and Dill sauce. Yummy! A must try.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo LeonaR

    21 October 2012

    LeonaR rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made this recipe for a dinner party last night. I was a little worried about it being a whole dish in one but it was perfect and so well received. It takes a little time but once it's done, there is nothing else to worry about!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Leave a comment or suggestion

You must sign in or register to leave a comment.

Sign in / Register

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 30 mins

Plus cooling and resting
Freezable

Can be frozen uncooked

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 50g butter
  • 700g skinless, boneless lightly smoked raw salmon fillets (available from Waitrose & Sainsbury's - if you can't find them, use non-smoked raw salmon fillets), cut into finger thick slices
  • 2 x 375g blocks all-butter puff pastry
  • 1 egg , beaten, for glazing

FOR THE RICE

  • 1 large onion , finely chopped
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 4 cardamom pods
  • 2 star anise
  • 200g basmati rice
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4cm piece cinnamon stick
  • 400ml fish stock or water
  • zest 1 lemon , juice ½
  • large bunch dill
Print this recipe
Add to your binder

Per serving

917 kcalories, protein 47g, carbohydrate 73g, fat 51 g, saturated fat 29g, fibre 3g, sugar 3g, salt 7.63 g

Advertisement

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons why to sign up:

  • You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.
  • You can add your own recipes to this site for others to try; plus, rate and make comments on recipes, and share your views on our blog.

Follow Good Food

Advertisement

All about Good Food

Magazine

Good Food Magazine

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - enjoy 100+ triple-tested recipes delivered to your door, every month.

Order today, and receive your first 3 issues for just £3

On TV

Foodie TV

See your favourite chefs on Sky Channel 247, Virgin TV 260 and find their recipes at goodfoodchannel.co.uk.

Good Food Apps

Good Food Apps

For Good Food on the go, download our apps to your phone or portable device.
Find out more here

Buy ingredients

With just one click, the full list of recipe ingredients will be put into a basket at your choice of provider. Choose from:

mySupermarket Compare prices and choose a retailer you wish to buy them from.

Ocado Let Ocado deliver all you need for this recipe, right to your door

Tesco Buy all the ingredients from our recipes through your Tesco online shop.

new

Asda Shop with Asda? You can now buy ingredients for our recipes via your Asda online shop.

In association with the above providers. Terms and conditions apply.

Close