Salmon in Puff Pastry

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

To prepare this dish, pull puff pastry out of the package to warm up a moment while you remove the skin from your salmon. Use a sharp boning knife or chef’s knife lift up on the skin and slowly cut the skin from fillet. Then cut salmon into 4 equal portions.

Take a little flour and lightly dust counter and rolling pin to keep pastry from sticking to it. Pull out one sheet of puff pastry and roll it out about an extra half-inch on each side. Rolling the pastry slightly will smooth the seams where it was folded in the box and it will make it just the right size to use one sheet to wrap all four pieces of fish. Cut pastry sheet into 4 equal sized pieces.

Take each piece of salmon and place about 1 tablespoon of pesto on top of each piece of fish. Then turn fish over where the pesto is on the bottom facing the puff pastry. Now you are ready to wrap the fish. Take puff pastry and fold the long sides in first so they overlap each other. Then take shorter end and fold them over so you have a neatly wrapped salmon package. Then flip that package over so the seam side faces the bottom.

If you want to be extra fancy, add a design detail with some cut out leaves. Use the second puff pastry sheet and roll it out just a bit with a rolling pin. Use cookie or fondant cutters to make your decorations. I used a small fondant leaf cutter I got from the craft store, but you could also use some fall leaf or holly shaped pastry cutters sold for decorating pies. For my tree branch design, I cut a little stem with a pairing knife. Sometimes I also add some veins on the leaves with a few marks from my knife.

In a bowl, beat it with a fork or whisk to make an egg wash. Brush beaten egg on the top and sides of the pastry. You want the seams side of the fish to be on the bottom. Once you have a base coat of egg, put leaves on and brush them with the egg wash as well. The egg will give pastry a beautiful color as it bakes.

Bake fish on a baking stone or a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Place salmon in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the pastry is puffy and golden. I like to serve mine with a cranberry wild rice. If you are making this fish a few hours ahead, refrigerate preassembled puff pastry packages but wait to add egg wash until you are ready to bake them.