Salmon en croute with cream cheese and spinach is a delicious, colourful dish and individual en croutes make the perfect dinner. En croute just means wrapped in pastry and I've used puff pastry which is light and has lots of layers that puff up nicely when cooked. Sometimes, this dish is also called Salmon Wellington. Cream cheese is mixed with spinach to create a tasty sauce. When you slice into it, you get the lovely pink of the salmon and the bright green of the spinach. You can make it in advance and the prep time is just 10 minutes
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People ask...
I like to serve Salmon Wellington, with carrots and broccoli which help to really bring out the colours of the dish. The pastry makes it quite filling so you shouldn't need any other carbs such as potato etc.
In order to stop your pastry from going soggy, you need to limit the moisture content. Firstly, pat the salmon dry before wrapping it in the pastry. Secondly, make small cuts in the top of the pastry to allow the steam to escape when cooking.
Salmon en croute is best eaten when it's first cooked. You can re-heat it, but this means the salmon carries on cooking, which risks making it dry. That said, I would never advocate wasting food, so if you do need to re-heat it, pop it in the oven at 200°C/400°F for 5 - 8 minutes.
Recipe Tips
I love to cook this for my family, but it's also a great recipe for entertaining. You can prepare it ahead of time. Make it as one big en croute and slice it up or as smaller individual salmon en croutes. If you' re making individual en croutes, you will need twice as much puff pastry as you have more to wrap.
- Remember to skin your salmon before making up your parcels. Start at the tail end and with a sharp knife, cut the flesh away from the skin. Take hold of the tail end skin and then cut away from yourself to remove the rest of the skin.
- Run your fingers lightly over the top of the salmon to check for bones.
- Lay the salmon side out on a board. If it is much wider at one end, cut some off the width and lay it next to the thinner side. You should have a rough rectangle shape so when you slice it, all the pieces are roughly the same. Because we are cooking in pastry, you won't see any join.
- If you are making individual salmon en croute, you will need twice as much pastry as is listed in the recipe card as there is more wrapping to do. Roll out your pastry to about 2.5 times the width of your piece of salmon.
- Patting your salmon dry will help make sure your pastry doesn't go soggy.
- You can prepare salmon en croute up to 24 hours in advance and keep it in the fridge. Don't brush it with egg until you are ready to cook it.
Sustainability
When buying fish, always look for the Marine Stewardship Council blue logo. This means the fish has been sustainably sourced without long term damage to the fish stocks or marine or aquatic life.
Carrots and broccoli are in season throughout autumn and winter. Try to buy vegetables loose without any plastic packaging and from local sources. This will help reduce the carbon footprint as well as support your local economy.
How to make it
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- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Whizz together the cream cheese with the spinach or watercress and rocket in a food processor.
- Divide the puff pastry into 4 (or no. of portions) or keep as one piece if doing one large parcel. Roll it out to a thickness of 2 - 3 mm and about 2.5 times the width of the salmon fillet so that it can be wrapped. You might find it helpful to measure the width to check you can comfortably wrap your salmon parcel.
- Place the salmon fillet(s) on one half of the pastry, spread enough of the spinach mixture over the salmon to cover it, but not so much that it runs off. You can serve the rest of the sauce at the table. Paste the edges with some of the beaten egg and fold the pastry over. Gently pinch the edges together to seal it.
- Glaze the top with the beaten egg and make a 2 small cuts on individual parcels in the pastry on top to let the steam escape. 4 cuts for a larger parcel.
- Place on a greased baking tray or greased baking parchment and cook in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes for individual parcels and 25 - 30 minutes for a whole parcel. To test if it is cooked, place a sharp knife through one of the pastry cuts, hold it for 3 seconds then place it against the inside of your wrist. If the knife is hot, the salmon is cooked.
- Steam the carrots and broccoli for 6 - 7 minutes and serve with the salmon parcels and any remaining spinach, watercress and rocket puree as a sauce.
Storage
These puff pastry parcels can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Don't brush with egg until you are ready to cook it. Make sure the edges are well sealed so the sauce doesn't run out. The cream cheese won't freeze very well and may become 'grainy' which means the texture isn't what it should be.
📖 Recipe
Individual Salmon En Croute with cream cheese and spinach
Ingredients
- 150 g low fat cream cheese organic
- 120 g spinach organic, or mix of spinach, watercress and rocket
- 500 g puff pastry organic. Double if doing individual parcels
- 500 g salmon fillets organic, skinned and boned
- 1 eggs organic or free range, beaten
- 250 g carrots organic, thinly sliced
- 250 g broccoli organic, cut into even sized florets
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Whizz together the cream cheese with the spinach, watercress and rocket in a food processor.150 g low fat cream cheese, 120 g spinach
- Divide the puff pastry into 4 (or no. of portions) or keep as one piece if doing one large parcel. Roll it out to a thickness of 2 - 3 mm and just over twice the width of the salmon fillet so that it can be wrapped. You might find it helpful to measure the width to check you can comfortably wrap your salmon parcel.500 g puff pastry
- Place the skinned salmon fillet(s) on one half of the pastry, spread enough of the spinach mixture over the salmon to cover it, but not so much that it runs off. You can serve the rest of the sauce at the table. Paste the edges with some of the beaten egg and fold the pastry over. Gently pinch the edges together to seal it.500 g salmon fillets
- Glaze the top with the beaten egg and make a 2 small cuts on individual parcels in the pastry on top to let the steam escape. 4 cuts for a larger parcel.1 eggs
- Place on a greased baking tray or greased baking parchment and cook in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes for individual parcels and 25 - 30 minutes for a whole parcel. To test if it is cooked, place a sharp knife through one of the pastry cuts, hold it for 3 seconds then place it against the inside of your wrist. If the knife is hot, the salmon is cooked.
- Steam the carrots and broccoli for 6 - 7 minutes and serve with the salmon parcels and any remaining spinach, watercress and rocket puree as a sauce.250 g carrots, 250 g broccoli
Notes
Tips
- Remember to skin your salmon before making up your parcels. Start at the tail end and with a sharp knife, cut the flesh away from the skin. Take hold of the tail end skin and then cut away from yourself to remove the rest of the skin.
- Lightly run your fingers over the top of the salmon to check for any bones.
- Lay your salmon side out on a board. If it is much wider at one end, cut some of the width and lay it next to the thinner side. You should have a rough rectangle shape so when you slice it, all the pieces are roughly the same.
- If you are making individual salmon en croute, you will need twice as much pastry as is listed in the recipe card as there is more wrapping to do.
Storage
These puff pastry parcels can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Don't brush with egg until you are ready to cook it. Make sure the edges are well sealed so the sauce doesn't run out. It doesn't freeze so well due to the cream cheese which becomes 'grainy' when frozen.Nutrition per serving
The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.
Rachel
Perfect for dinner party. Looks and tastes great, and can prepare in advance.
Brenda
Love Spinach. Love Salmon. Love Cream Cheese. A dish to love !
Susan
Great quick tasty and nutritious recipe. All the family liked it!