Everything Bagel Salmon En Croute
Anything en croute–wrapped in puff pastry–is fancy. Beef Wellingtons, wheels of brie, old socks, whatever you’ve got, if you wrap it in flaky pastry and bake until golden brown, people will be impressed. Salmon en croute is a classic, a salmon filet wrapped in pastry, often with some sort of vegetable and sauce to make the fish pop tart of your dreams.¹ We’re giving this a twist inspired by my favorite fish-in-bread preparation: the everything bagel with lox and cream cheese. Just like they make in the delis in Paris. Maybe.
One With Everything
A bagel and lox has a few components to consider for adaptation. The lox itself we’re replacing with a fresh salmon filet, as using a slab of smoked salmon would be both quite salty and prone to overcooking. We’re evoking the everything bagel by topping our puff pastry with premade everything bagel seasoning, though you could of course replace this with the bagel toppings of your choice, such as sesame seeds, poppy seeds, coarse salt, or anything else you’ve seen on a bagel (though if you try to go cinnamon raisin, I cannot be held responsible for the outcome).
A good schmear of cream cheese goes in our pastry packet to melt into a sort of instant sauce. To evoke scallion cream cheese–my choice whenever available–while providing some degree of vegetable matter, we saute some leeks and mix them into the cream cheese. Mixing in some raw scallions would not be a bad move if you’re after a stronger allium kick.
Of course, any good bagel and lox needs a few additional fixings. I usually get mine with capers and raw onions, which here we’re including as a sort of gremolata. Just mince up some capers and shallots (vaguely French, keeping with the theme), add lemon zest and juice, stir in some parsley and olive oil, and you’ve got a sharp, fresh sauce to balance the richness of the salmon and cream cheese.
Wrap It Up
Assembling your bagel pastry might seem daunting, but like the rest of this dish, it’s much easier than it seems. Lay out each of your sheets of puff pastry and figure out where the salmon is going to go so that you can completely envelop it in the pastry. You may need to roll out the dough if your filet is especially large, or, if there’s a thinner end, you can trim off the thin piece and place it on top of the rest of the filet to make a more compact, even shape. Remove the salmon and spread half the cream cheese mixture on each sheet of pastry in the same shape and position as the filets, then replace the fish on top.
Wrap the pastry over the fish, press the seams to seal, and flip the whole packet over so the seams are on the bottom. You could bake this right away, but to maximize the puff and flakiness of the dough it’s important that it be well-chilled before it goes into the oven. Freezing the packets for half an hour before cooking yields a better end result; just consider it an opportunity to clean up and maybe get a side dish ready.
Once chilled, lightly score just the top surface of the dough with a sharp knife if you want a decorative flourish, then brush the whole thing in an egg wash and sprinkle generously with everything bagel seasoning before baking. In half an hour the salmon will be cooked through and the pastry will be golden brown and flaky, and the hardest part of the whole process is letting it rest five minutes before serving.
Play Around
If you’re inclined to get lettuce and tomato in your bagel, you can make a simple salad and convert the sauce as a quick dressing with some extra olive oil and lemon juice.
If you’re into whitefish salad, you could swap the salmon with something like trout and add raw dill and celery to the cream cheese instead of leeks.
Notes
- Assuming you dream of fish pop tarts.
Everything Bagel Salmon En Croute
Prep List
Equipment
Procedure
| Ingredients | Preparation |
|---|---|
|
1 Tbsp butter 1 large leek, white part halved lengthwise and thinly sliced |
1. Melt butter in a saute pan over medium heat until foaming. Add leek, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. |
|
8 oz (225 g) cream cheese, slightly softened |
2. Combine cooked leeks and cream cheese in a small bowl and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside. |
|
2x 1 lb (450 g) salmon filets |
3. Season the salmon filets on both sides with salt and pepper and set aside. |
|
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed |
4. Unroll one sheet of puff pastry. Spread half the cream cheese mixture in a rectangle in the center of the sheet about the size of one salmon filet. Place a salmon filet on top of the cream cheese mixture. Fold sides of pastry over salmon to enclose, trimming excess if needed. If dough is too short in one direction, you can use a piece of trimmed dough to fill in the gap. Place seam side down on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Repeat with remaining sheet of pastry. |
| 5. Freeze salmon packets for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425°F/220°C. | |
|
2 Tbsp capers, roughly chopped 1/4 cup minced parsley 2 shallots, minced 2 Tbsp lemon zest 1/4 cup lemon juice 1/4 cup olive oil |
6. While salmon chills, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the capers, parsley, shallot, lemon juice and zest, and olive oil. Taste and season with salt if needed. Refrigerate until ready to serve. |
|
1 egg 1 tsp water 2 Tbsp everything bagel seasoning |
7. After 30 minutes, remove salmon from freezer. Lightly score a crosshatch pattern into the dough with a sharp knife. Beat egg with water and brush over pastry. Sprinkle generously with everything bagel seasoning and bake for 30 minutes, until pastry is golden brown. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. |
Notes
If pastry isn't sufficiently browned after baking, you can move the tray to the upper third of the oven and broil very briefly to color the top. Check every 30 seconds if you do this, as the pastry can burn after just a minute or two.