Salmon en Croûte

Before starting this Salmon en Croûte recipe, make sure you have organised the necessary ingredients for the court-bouillon.

For the court-bouillon: Cut the carrots into a mirepoix, then cut the onion in half and stud each half with one clove.

Fill a cast iron casserole with cold water. Add the diced carrots, bouquet garni and the onion.

Bring to a boil, then cook for 20 minutes. Set aside.

For the preparation of the salmon: Scale, gut and trim the salmon. If possible, ask your fishmonger to do this for you.

Remove the head with a knife...

... and cut the body in half, crosswise. For this recipe, I am only going to use half of the salmon and cook it in a standard-size dish. To make this recipe with the whole salmon, you will need a large dish or fish kettle.

Place the salmon on your kitchen worktop, then slice along the belly.

We want to remove the central bone without separating the two fillets.

Cut through the fillet, following the bones, making sure to remove as little flesh as possible.

Using scissors, cut along the central bone to remove it.

Trim the edges to remove the fatty bits. Reserve in the fridge.

Trim the green beans.

Cut the carrot into a brunoise.

Cook the beans in salted boiling water.

Then transfer into a bowl filled with ice water...

... and drain. Repeat the same operation with the carrot and the green peas.

Place the white fish in the food processor bowl.

Mix finely...

... and add two whole eggs.

Mix again.

Transfer into a recipient and season with salt, pepper and Espelette pepper.

Cut the beans into small pieces.

Add to the stuffing, together with the peas and the carrot.

Combine well.

Place the salmon on a chopping board.

Season the inside with salt and ground pepper.

Fill with the stuffing, then wrap the whole thing in cling film.

Make a more resistant wrapping with two layers of cling film. This will ensure the cling film doe snot come apart while cooking.

Poach the stuffed salmon in the simmering court-bouillon for 15 minutes.

Do not hesitate to pierce the cling film so the salmon absorbs the flavour from the court-bouillon.

When cooked...

... remove gently from the casserole...

... and transfer onto the chopping board. Let cool.

Gently remove the cling film.

When cooled down completely, gently remove the skin by pulling on it. It should come off easily.

Remove the skin on both sides.

Remove the rest of the backbone, which should come off easily now the salmon has been cooked. Proceed with care, the stuffed salmon is fragile.

Assembling the salmon en croûte: Roll out the puff pastry to a thickness of 2-3mm.

Cut the rolled out pastry in two equal parts. Reserve one half in the fridge to prevent it from softening.

Wipe the salmon parcel with paper towel...

... and arrange it in the centre of the pastry.

Make an incision in he pastry, in the four corners of the salmon rectangle, then fold the pastry back on the salmon...

... making sure there are no bits of pastry overlapping on the sides.

Cut any pastry excess if needed.

Glaze all sides of the pastry with egg yolk.

Cover with the second rectangle of pastry. Cut the pastry excess with a knife...

... and press firmly on the sides. The egg yolk serves as an adhesive here.

Glaze the whole surface with egg yolk, then create a scale pattern, using a knife with a round tip.

The finished result should look like this!

Bake at 180°C (gas 4) for 20 or 25 minutes.

The pastry should be golden and crispy.

This delicious salmon en croûte is ready to serve, preferably with a nice mousseline sauce on the side.