Salmon en croute

If you keep track of your cooking times with the Electronic Digital Dual Kitchen Timer, and use the Heston Blumenthal Digital Thermometer to make sure your fish has reached that all-important 50°C, you can confidently cut into that crunchy puff pastry crust knowing that your salmon’s cooked to perfection.

Salmon en croute Serves 4

For the herb pancakes, boil the spinach in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove and plunge into an iced bath. Once cooled, drain and squeeze out excess liquid and pat dry with kitchen paper. Roughly chop the spinach and add to a blender with the remaining pancake ingredients. Blend on high until smooth. Pass the batter through a sieve and set aside. Lightly grease a non-stick pan with a dab of olive oil and cook the pancakes one at a time over low-moderate heat. Set aside until needed.

Roll out one of the pastry sheets onto a sheet of parchment paper. Place two pancakes on top of the pastry. Using a sharp knife, cut the salmon fillet in half lengthways. Place one half on top of the pancakes. Finely chop and combine the herbs and scatter over the salmon. Cover with the remaining piece of salmon. Cover with two more pancakes and wrap well. Brush the visible areas of the bottom layer of pastry with the egg wash and cover the salmon with the second sheet of puff pastry. Trim the

pastry around the edges and use a fork to decoratively seal the pastry. Place in the fridge until needed.

To cook, preheat the oven to 180°C - with the pizza stone placed on the middle rack. Place the salmon (still on the parchment paper) onto the pizza stone and cook for 30 minutes. The salmon should reach a core temperature of 50°C when probed before it is removed from the oven. The temperature will continue to rise once the salmon is resting on a cooling rack over a tray, which it should do for 10 minutes before serving.

For the herb pancakes (makes 4-6)25g baby spinach (blanched and drained weight)3g tarragon leaves4g flat leaf parsley2 whole eggs75g plain flour100g whole milkpinch saltolive oil

To finish the salmon2 x 250g sheets ready-rolled puff pastryreserved herb pancakes500g salmon fillet, skinned and deboned5g tarragon leaves5g flat parsley leaves5g chervil leaves1 egg, lightly beaten

Heston Blumenthal Precision Digital Thermometer by Salter

MODEL NUMBER 544A HBSSCR

www.salterhousewares.co.uk /SalterUK/SalterUK /salteruk