Anne Morgan Delia Smith’s salmon en croute wraps each fillet in puff pastry with a watercress and orange butter that melts inside as it bakes. The orange zest is what caught me off guard: I have not seen it in any other en croute recipe, and it changes everything.
Four individual parcels, 200°C (400°F), 20 to 25 minutes. I first tried this salmon en croute recipe from Delia’s Summer Collection expecting the orange to fight the fish, but it lifts it instead.
More Salmon Recipes:
Why the Butter Matters More Than the Pastry
Most salmon en croute recipes focus on getting the pastry right, but Delia puts the work into what goes inside. The watercress gives a peppery bite and the orange zest steams into the fish as it bakes, so the salmon tastes dressed from the inside out.
I left the orange out the first time and the whole thing tasted flat, so do not skip it. That butter is also what makes the assembly fast: once it is mixed, the parcels come together in about ten minutes.
Salmon En Croute Ingredients
The Fish and Pastry:
- 4 salmon fillets, approximately 175g (6 oz) each, skinned
- 450g (1 lb) puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten, for glazing
The Watercress and Orange Butter:
- 50g (2 oz) salted butter, softened
- 1 bunch watercress, finely chopped with thick stalks removed
- Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Salt and freshly milled black pepper
How To Make Delia Smith Salmon En Croute
- Make the herb butter: Combine the softened butter, chopped watercress, orange zest, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mash with a fork until mixed. Chill for 10 minutes if it gets too soft.
- Prepare the pastry: Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface to about 3mm thick and cut into 4 rectangles large enough to wrap each fillet.
- Assemble the parcels: Place a salmon fillet in the centre of each rectangle and season lightly. Spread a quarter of the butter over the top of each fillet.
- Wrap and seal: Brush the pastry edges with beaten egg, fold over, and pinch firmly to seal. Tight seams matter here because the butter turns to sauce inside the parcel.
- Set on the tray: Turn each parcel seam-side down onto a baking sheet dampened with cold water. Use pastry trimmings to cut leaf shapes and press on top with egg wash.
- Glaze and vent: Brush tops and sides with beaten egg. Cut two small slits in each parcel to let steam out.
- Bake: Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until puffed and deep golden.
- Rest before serving: Leave for 5 minutes so the butter settles inside before plating.
Which Sauce Goes With Salmon En Croute
You do not strictly need one because the watercress butter melts into the fish and creates its own sauce inside the parcel. A plain hollandaise on the side works if you want something extra, or just a squeeze of lemon.
I usually plate mine with buttered new potatoes and steamed green beans, nothing fighting the fish. For anyone searching for a salmon en croute Delia Smith would approve of, this is the one, though a salmon coulibiac feeds a bigger crowd.
Can You Make This the Day Before
This is exactly why I keep coming back to this recipe for dinner parties. Assemble the parcels without the glaze, cover with cling film (plastic wrap), and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Glaze and bake straight from the fridge, adding 3 to 5 extra minutes. You can also freeze the uncooked parcels and bake from frozen at 200°C (400°F) with about 10 extra minutes.
Leftover cooked parcels keep for 2 days in the fridge and reheat best in the oven at 190°C (375°F) for 10 to 15 minutes, never the microwave. If you want to make flaky pastry from scratch instead of shop-bought puff, Delia’s quick version works well here.
Salmon En Croute Nutrition Facts
- Calories: 650 kcal
- Protein: 30g
- Fat: 45g
- Carbohydrates: 32g
- Sugar: 1g
Estimated per parcel.
Is salmon en croute the same as salmon wellington?
They are very similar. Both wrap salmon in pastry, but a wellington usually has a mushroom duxelles layer between the fish and the pastry. Delia’s version uses a watercress and orange butter instead, which makes it lighter and more citrusy than a traditional wellington.
What pastry works best for salmon en croute?
All-butter puff pastry gives the crispest shell. Delia uses shop-bought puff here, which is fine as long as it is an all-butter variety. Shortcrust is too heavy, and filo will not hold the sauce inside. If you want homemade, Delia’s quick flaky pastry from How To Cook is a good option.
Can I make salmon en croute for 2 instead of 4?
Yes, halve everything. Use 225g (8 oz) puff pastry, 2 salmon fillets, 25g (1 oz) butter, half a bunch of watercress, and the zest of half an orange. Baking time stays the same at 20 to 25 minutes.
Can I use spinach instead of watercress?
Spinach works but it is milder, so the butter will taste less peppery. If using frozen spinach, squeeze out all the water first or the base goes soggy. Fresh baby spinach chopped finely is the better swap. Rocket gives a similar peppery kick if you can find it.
More From the Site:
Delia Smith Salmon En Croute Recipe
Course: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Medium4
servings20
minutes25
minutes650
kcalDelia Smith’s salmon en croute wraps each fillet in puff pastry with a watercress and orange butter that melts inside as it bakes. The orange zest is what caught me off guard: I have not seen it in any other en croute recipe, and it changes everything.
Four individual parcels, 200°C (400°F), 20 to 25 minutes. I first tried this salmon en croute recipe from Delia’s Summer Collection expecting the orange to fight the fish, but it lifts it instead.
Ingredients
4 salmon fillets, approximately 175g (6 oz) each, skinned
450g (1 lb) puff pastry
1 egg, beaten, for glazing
50g (2 oz) salted butter, softened
1 bunch watercress, finely chopped with thick stalks removed
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
Directions
- Make the herb butter: Combine the softened butter, chopped watercress, orange zest, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mash together with a fork until evenly mixed. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes if the mixture gets too soft.
- Prepare the pastry: Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle about 3mm thick, then cut it into 4 pieces large enough to wrap each fillet.
- Assemble the parcels: Place a salmon fillet in the centre of each pastry rectangle and season lightly. Spread a quarter of the watercress and orange butter over the top of each fillet.
- Wrap the pastry: Brush the edges with beaten egg, then fold the pastry over and pinch the edges firmly to seal. The butter turns into a sauce inside the parcel, so tight seams are important or it leaks out onto the tray.
- Set on the tray: Turn each parcel seam-side down and place on a baking sheet dampened with cold water. Use any pastry trimmings to cut out leaf shapes and press them on top with a little egg wash.
- Glaze and vent: Brush the tops and sides generously with beaten egg. Cut two small slits in the top of each parcel to let steam escape.
- Bake: Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until puffed and deep golden brown.
- Rest before serving: Let the parcels sit for 5 minutes so the butter settles inside before you plate them.
Notes
- Chill assembled parcels for 15 minutes before baking if the butter has softened too much.
- Preheat the baking sheet in the oven to crisp the pastry base.
- Always remove the salmon skin before wrapping or it goes rubbery inside the pastry.
