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.