france classic 1314 v1 | Page 16

main course dietary requirements :

Salmon and local pesto filo parcel vegetarian : NO vegan : NO dairy free : NO

nut free : NO , make a portion of pesto without the walnuts

gluten free : NO , pile pesto on salmon , omit pastry and bake for 15mins week one

Serves : 8 Cooked : at oven temp 350F / 180C

8 good salmon fillets 150g each no skin or bone

4 sheets brick or filo pastry olive oil to drizzle fresh parsley or sage to decorate for the pesto : 50g aged Beaufort 50ml olive oil 125ml vegetable or sunflower oil 50g toasted walnuts

100g cooked frozen spinach ( well drained )

Preparation time : 15 minutes Cooking time : 40 minutes

grated zest and juice ½ lemon 1½ teaspoons dried sage salt and pepper for the sauce : 150ml white wine 50ml water 1 fish or veg stock cube ½ teaspoon dried sage 50g butter salt and pepper 1 teaspoon cornflour grated zest and juice of ½ lemon

1 . Drain the cooked spinach in a sieve and press down with a saucer to make sure you remove all excess liquid . Add it to the rest of the pesto ingredients and blend until you have a rough pesto texture . Taste and season . Depending on the cheese and oil you may need extra lemon , garlic or salt . Divide the pesto in two reserving half for the sauce . 2 . Lay the brick pastry on a clean surface and brush with a small amount of water to soften it . spoon the pesto into the middle and spread it to an oblong shape the same size and shape as the piece of salmon . fold the front edge over the pesto and then lay the salmon fillet upside down on top of this so there is a barrier between the pesto and salmon fillet . Then fold the back and two sides over the salmon and invert onto a baking sheet . This makes a parcel that reveals one side of the salmon so you can see the wonderful pink colour when cooked but the pesto is encased in the pastry . Brush with the melted butter on all sides and invert the parcel laying it onto a well greased baking sheet . Make these ahead of time and bake brushed with olive oil for 20 minutes ( so do not bake until guests have their starters ). 3 . Meanwhile make the sauce by cooking all of the ingredients together in a saucepan and boil away until syrupy in consistency . Put the warm citrus jus into a squeezy bottle and drizzle around the warm dinner plate . notes

Brick pastry is similar to filo but more robust and easier to work with . Originally from Tunisia it is now made in France and more widely available than filo . Its more crunchy than filo when baked . If you can ’ t get brick you can use filo , but use double the quantity of sheets .

To serve : drizzle a little of the sauce around the edge of a warmed dinner plate . Fill a ramekin with rice , invert on to the plate and top with the wilted spinach . Place the filo parcel beside the rice and serve the remainder of the sauce in a jug .

notes

Pesto originates from the Italian port of Genoa and was created as a perfect pasta sauce for voyages , the lemons , oil , garlic and parmesan ( all local ingredients ) stored well and the basil could be grown in pots on the ships . So pesto is simply a sauce made with local ingredients , so here we have used our local ingredients to create a wonderful Mountain pesto using local Beaufort cheese in place of parmesan , walnuts in place of pine nuts ( walnuts are very local to the Alps ) and sage in place of basil . Make extra as it is great on pasta for lunch for you or very useful for some little canapés later in the week .