Salmon Coulibiac

This twist on the classic salmon en croûte makes an excellent prepare-ahead main. Fans of kedgeree will love the lightly spiced, herby rice.

Hands-on time 1hr, plus cooling, chilling and resting. Cooking time about 1½hr.

Serves 6

● 5 medium eggs

● Flour, to dust

● 750g all-butter puff pastry

● 750g skinless, boneless salmon fillet in one piece

FOR THE RICE

● 1½tsp each cumin, coriander and fennel seeds

● 25g butter

● 2 echalion shallots, finely chopped

● 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

● 1 star anise

● 5 cardamom pods, bashed

● 1 cinnamon stick

● 1 bay leaf

● 200g wild and basmati rice mix

● Pinch of turmeric, optional

● 500ml vegetable stock

● Finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon

● Small handful parsley, chopped

● 50g flaked almonds, toasted

● 1tbsp capers, drained and roughly chopped

1 Put 4 of the eggs into a pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 6min exactly. Drain and cover with cold water, leave to cool, then peel.

2 Next cook the rice: toast the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds in a frying pan over medium hob heat for a few min, until fragrant. Lightly crush using a pestle and mortar.

3 Melt butter in the empty pan and gently cook shallots, garlic, crushed toasted spices, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf for 10min, until softened. Stir in rice, turmeric (if using) and stock. Cover with a lid, bring to the boil and simmer for 20min. Turn off heat and set aside for 10min, until all the stock has been absorbed and the rice is fluffy and tender.

4 Spread on to a large plate or tray to cool quickly. When at room temperature, tip into a bowl (removing the whole spices and bay leaf). Using a fork, mix in the lemon zest and juice, parsley, flaked almonds and capers. Check seasoning, cover and chill.

5 Lightly flour a work surface and roll out ½ pastry to a rectangle a little larger than your fish, about 25 x 35cm. Transfer to a large sheet of baking parchment. Roll remaining pastry out a little larger, about 30 x 35-40cm, and lay on another sheet of baking parchment. Stack in the fridge, covering with a final sheet of parchment. Chill for 30min (reserve pastry trimmings).

6 Place the smaller pastry rectangle on a baking tray (still on its parchment). Spread over ½ the rice mixture, leaving a 4cm border all around. Top with the salmon. Halve the eggs lengthways and place cut-side down in a line down the centre of the salmon. Cover with the remaining rice mixture, pressing gently to pack around the fish.

7 Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7. Beat remaining egg and brush over the pastry border on the base. Lay on the larger pastry rectangle, pressing gently into place and sealing edges. Trim edges to neaten, then crimp using a fork. Brush all over with egg. If you like, reroll pastry trimmings and cut out decorations; lay them on top of your parcel and brush again with egg.

8 Cook for 15min, then reduce oven temperature to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5 and cook for 40min more. Leave to rest for 10min, then transfer to a board to serve.

PER SERVING 983cals, 46g protein, 55g fat (27g saturates), 75g carbs (3g total sugars), 3g fibre