Gourmet Smoked Salmon Pie
The richness of fresh salmon and the subtleness of the smoked honey-scented salmon, layered with spinach leaves and shavings of butternut pumpkin, topped with a purée of sweet potato perfumed with celeriac, baked to perfection make this cottage-style pie irresistible.
(serves 4)
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of spinach, leaves only
- 80g butter (approximately)
- pinch of nutmeg
- 400g smoked salmon fillet (flesh only)
- 200g fresh salmon fillet, pin bones removed
- 1 butternut pumpkin, precooked (by boiling) and thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp runny honey
- sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 150 g celeriac, precooked (by boiling) and diced
- 1 large or 2 small kumara (golden and orange are ideal), precooked (by boiling)
- 50-80 ml cream
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 – 200ºC.
2. Blanch spinach leaves in 25g of the butter with nutmeg. Set aside.
3. Grease a large pie dish with a little of the butter. Place spinach leaves, smoked and fresh salmon and precooked pumpkin slices into the dish in alternating layers. Drizzle each layer with a little honey and season with salt and pepper.
4. Place a further 20g of butter into a medium-sized saucepan with the olive oil and precooked diced celeriac and kumara. Heat without colouring the vegetables and add cream. When hot, season with a little salt and pepper. Purée in a blender, or mash by hand and whip with a fork until smooth, adding more cream and butter as necessary to get the right consistency.
5. Top the pie with sweet potato and celeriac mash, patterning the topping for beautiful presentation if you wish (a piping bag can also be used). Brush the top of the pie with a little melted butter.
6. Place pie in oven and bake for 15-30 minutes, taking care not to brown pastry too much.
7. Serve with a simple green salad, dressed with a lemon-infused olive oil.
An extract from The New Zealand Seafood Cookbook, published by Penguin Group NZ.