Salmon Coulibiac Recipe

Fill a saucepan with water and bring it to the boil, then add the four eggs and cook them at a boil for 8 minutes. Lift out carefully and cool under cold running water for a minute (or until cool enough to handle), then peel off the shells and put the eggs in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the pie.

Put 25g of the butter into a large saucepan (one for which you have a lid), let it melt on a medium-high heat and then add the sliced salmon, cooking for about a minute on each side just to firm them slightly – you may need to do this in batches. Put the salmon on a plate and refrigerate while you cook the rice.

Fill and boil your kettle, then - using the pan in which you sizzled the salmon - melt the rest of the butter over a gentle heat and add the diced onion, together with the cardamom pods and the cumin, mustard, Nigella and coriander seeds. Fry for 8-10 minutes, stirring, until softened and golden. Stir in the drained rice, add the bay leaf and cinnamon stick, then pour in 400ml of hot water from your kettle. Season to taste with salt and pepper, stir, then put the lid on the pan and bring it up to the boil, before reducing the heat to its lowest setting and cooking for a further 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat (keep the lid on) and let it sit for 10 mins, then stir through the lemon zest and juice. When the rice mix has cooled completely, stir though the chopped parsley.

When you are ready to cook the coulibiac, preheat the oven to 220°C (Gas Mark 7), take the eggs and salmon out of the fridge and cut the eggs into slices. Roll out one of the packs of puff pastry into a rectangle roughly 23cm x 40cm and place it on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Remove the cinnamon stick and the cardamom pods from the rice mixture, then pack half of the rice along the middle of the pastry, leaving at least 5cm border around the edges. Lie the salmon pieces on the rice, then put the egg slices over the salmon layer. Top the eggs with the rest of the rice, then use your hands to press down gently to ensure the filling is firm and even.  Brush the pastry border with some of the beaten egg, then roll the second pack of pastry out to make a slightly larger rectangle than the first. Carefully drape it over the top of the coulibiac, then gently press down the edges to seal them. Using a fork, work your way around the edges, pressing down with the prongs – this looks decorative, but it also helps to keep the edges sealed during cooking. Brush the coulibiac all over with beaten egg, then lightly score a criss-cross pattern across the top of it with a sharp, being careful not to cut through the pastry. Put the coulibiac in the hot oven and bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200°C (Gas Mark 6) and cook for 20 more minutes, until golden brown. Take the cooked coulibiac out of the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.