Our Salmon en Croute recipe brings salmon together with flaky pastry and asparagus. Lemon and rosemary give an extra burst of spring flavor to this dish!
What is En Croute?
The French term “en croute” (pronounced on-KROOT) speaks to food that has been wrapped in a pastry dough and then baked.
That’s it.
It could be wrapped in pie crust or puff pastry.
It could be baked in a casserole dish or baked stand-alone.
As long as it involves something baked inside of a pastry crust, it’s “en croute”.
(So Beef Wellington, is technically an “en croute” preparation.)
Our Salmon En Croute Recipe
Salmon en Croute is one of the more popular French “en croute” preparations. A thick filet of salmon (or even a whole salmon) is cooked inside of a pie crust.
It’s like one seriously epic salmon pie.
Some recipes will have you top the salmon with other aromatics or vegetables, making the prepared fish a full meal in itself.
We’ve topped our salmon with a slightly creamy and very springy mixture of asparagus, lemon juice, and rosemary.
We just love those flavors with salmon, and inside this dish, they definitely don’t disappoint!
Can you prepare Salmon en Croute ahead of time?
If you’re looking to make lemon asparagus salmon en croute ahead of time, you have a couple of options.
- Prep ahead
- Freeze
Our personal recommendation would be to prepare your pie crust and asparagus mixture ahead of time. Then you can put everything together immediately before baking.
This way helps ensure that the bottom crust doesn’t get too soggy from having wet ingredients on it for too long.
The other option would be to construct your salmon en croute and freeze it. Wrapped in plastic wrap, you should be able to keep the prepared salmon frozen for 2-3 months.
How To Cook Salmon en Croute From Frozen
If freezing your salmon en croute, you will want to bake it from frozen when you, are ready for it.
To bake from frozen, we would recommend reducing your oven temperature to 350F. Keep in mind, that the salmon will take longer to cook.
Depending on the thickness of your salmon filet, it should take around an hour to an hour and a half. If the pastry starts to get too dark, you can tent it with aluminum foil for the last part of the cooking time.
Salmon en Croute
Add your favorite protein, this quick and easy Pad Thai recipe makes this Thai street food simple to make at home!
Ingredients
- ½ lb asparagus,
- 2 Tbsp sour cream, or plain yogurt
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ tsp rosemary
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 lb salmon filet, de-boned and skinned
For the Crust
- 1 ½ c unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ c whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 Tbsp unsalted butter,, soft
- 6 Tbsp cold water
- 1 egg, beaten (to use as egg wash)
Instructions
Prep The Asparagus
- Bring a 3 qt pot of water to a boil. Cut the stiff and woody ends off of the stalks of asparagus. When the water is boiling, drop the asparagus into the water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the asparagus and immediately plunge into a bowl of ice-cold water (to stop them from cooking any further).
- Pat the asparagus dry with a towel and slice into rounds. Mix the asparagus pieces with sour cream (or plain yogurt), lemon juice, garlic, and rosemary. Set aside.
Make Your Pie Crust
- In a large bowl, mix together flours and salt.
- Mix in the butter with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly and resembles wet sand.
- Add 5-6 Tbsp of cold water and continue to mix until the dough comes together, adding additional water if needed for the dough to stick together. Knead the dough briefly into a ball.
Put It All Together
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Roll the dough out on a well-floured surface into a rectangle twice the length and twice the width of your salmon fillet. Gently transfer the rolled dough onto a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
- Brush the rolled dough with some egg wash and place the salmon fillet onto the dough. Spread an even layer of the asparagus mixture over the salmon.
- Gently fold the crust over top of the salmon, moistening the edges with water and pressing together to seal. (Cut off any over-excess if you have it and use to decorate the top.) Cut a few steam slits in the top crust and brush it with egg wash.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes (depending on the thickness of your salmon fillet), until fragrant and golden.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
This recipe from 2013 was updated in 2018. We made the salmon en croute even better. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 582Unsaturated Fat: 0g
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Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
Sarah Reid, CNP (@jo_jo_ba)
Tuesday 3rd of December 2013
Love that you did a whole wheat crust for this, it looks awesome
Jane's Adventures in Dinner
Tuesday 3rd of December 2013
Looks so good and I love that you made it with whole wheat pastry C:
Cindy Kerschner
Monday 2nd of December 2013
Very cute Sarah! I love the little fishies!
Kim@Treats & Trinkets
Monday 2nd of December 2013
I love the little fish decorations. So cute!
Stacy
Monday 2nd of December 2013
What a gorgeous dish, Sarah! I love salmon with asparagus - such wonderful flavors packed in there with them too - and your pastry shell is just adorable with those little fish.