Pie is a dish for any (and every) occasion. Following my breakfast pie (see: https://www.instructables.com/id/English-Breakfast-in-a-Pie/), I'll show you a handy recipe for lunch or dinner.

We eat fish regularly, this time I thought I’d give it a twist this time. I did not have much time, so I ended up making a puff-pastry wrapped salmon using store-bought pastry. To make it more interesting, I tried to make it resemble a fish … a fish kids draw J Though I still don’t see the hidden potential in me becoming a pastry sculptor, but it was absolutely yummy.

We had a mixed salad with orange and baked beetroot to go with the fish.

Step 1: Tools and Ingredients

Ingredients:

2 ready-to-bake puff-pastry (roughly 55x25 cm each)

1 piece of salmon filet (approx. 500g)

50 g butter

1 leek

300 g fresh spinach leaves

100 g mascarpone (or cream cheese)

200 g mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper

1 egg

Tools:

knife

cutting board

salad spinner

fish bone tweezer

saucepan

baking tin

parchment paper

Step 2: Preparation - Salmon

Salmon

- wash and dry,

- double check that there are no bones left inside – in case of salmon it is easy, bones are arranged in a line where my finger is in the photo parallel to the longer side of the cutting board,

- remove the fatty part (your cat or dog will be on cloud nine),

- sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Step 3: Preparation - Spinach

Spinach

- wash thoroughly

- remove stems

- dry (I used a salad spinner)

- roughly chop

Step 4: Preparation - Leek and Mozzarella

Leek

- remove the harsh green part,

- cut lengthwise

- wash thoroughly (remember to hold it under the tap with the green part pointing downwards, otherwise you may wash the dirt inside the leek instead of getting rid of it,

- chop.

Cut the mozzarella in small pieces (you might as well grate it).

Step 5: Cooking

Put the butter in a large saucepan, melt it on medium heat. Add the leek sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté it. After a couple of minutes, add the spinach and keep cooking until the spinach is wilted. Add the cream cheese, cook for 2-3 minutes.

Step 6: Assembly

Lay the pastry on a parchment paper (the type I used actually came on a parchment paper), pile the leek and spinach mixture in the middle. Top with grated mozzarella and the salmon, cover with the other piece of pastry. Press the pastry on top as tight as you can.

Step 7:

Decorate it your way. It is a good idea to make holes on the top so that the air stuck inside can escape and make sure you press the sides of the bottom and the top pastry tight. But otherwise, feel free to shape a fish, or a salmon, to be more precise :-).