Lately I have discovered an easy and fun way to get inspired for some new recipes. I am renting some cook books from Eindhoven's library :). The truth is that I have always been a fan of public libraries from my youth till now. So combining it with my love for cooking makes it so much fun. Besides I have been discovering some real treasures in those cook books. This recipe I discovered in Jamie Oliver's cookbook : Jamie's Friday Night Feast. I have cooked it for my parents while they came for a visit. We all loved it (including my 3 year old son): the taste, the healthy ingredients and the amazing looks. If you like fish it is worth giving it a go and give a nice twist to a good piece of salmon.
Ingredients
- 2 onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- extra virgin olive oil (#MaryoExtraVirginOliveOil)
- 50 gr butter
- 1/2 bunch fresh oregano (can work well with a good pinch of dried one)
- 1 kg chopped spinach from the deep freeze
- 375 gr butter puff pastry
- 1 piece of 1 kg good quality salmon
- 1 big egg
Sauce
- 1 leek
- 50 gr sun dried tomatoes
- 100ml white wine
- 1 table spoon flour
- 250ml milk
- 50 gr Red Leicester cheese (I used soft goat cheese)
- cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
Peel and chop the onions and garlic into fine slices and cook them in a pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil and half of the butter over medium heat. Add the oregano leave and stir occasionally for 10 min. Add the spinach and keep stirring for 15 to 20 min or till the humidity is removed from your mixture. Take the pan out of the heat and add salt and pepper to taste. Let it aside to cool.
In the meanwhile start with the sauce preparation: clean the leek and cut it into thin slices. Put a pan with a splash of olive oil and the rest of the butter over medium heat and add the leek, and the sundried tomatoes. Keep stirring for 15 min. or till the leek soft and sweet is. Add the wine nd let it cook for a while. Add first the flour and then bit by bit the milk. Let it thicken for 5 min. and then pour everything into a mixer. Mix well till you get a smooth sauce. Add the grated cheese and a bit of cayenne pepper (optional) and mix a bit more. Add salt and pepper to taste and let the sauce aside to cool.
Preheat the oven at 220°C / gas 7 and place a tray to warm up.
Assembly time !:) Roll the puff pastry over a flour dusted baking paper. Remove the excess moisture of the spinach mix and spread the mixture on top of the pastry making sure you leave 3 cm from all the edges. Place the salmon in the middle and turn the edges on the inside creating a barrier around the salmon. Make fine cuts on the surface of the salmon and pour the cold sauce on top. Spread the bitten egg over the pastry around the salmon. Place the baking paper with the salmon on top of the preheated tray. Let the fish bake for 30 to 40 min. in the oven or until the salmon has a golden color and looks ready. Serve with a nice fresh salad and some lemon.
Καλή όρεξη- enjoy your meal :)