Loup En Croûte
Servings: 4
Calories: 210kcal
Cost: $25
Print Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Large pot
- 1 Small saucepan
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Large bowl
- 1 salad spinner
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 4 deli containers
- 1 Small whisk
- 1 Rubber spatula
- 2 Baking trays
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Large plain pastry tip or small cookie cutter
- 1 Pastry brush
- 1 Pizza Cutter
Ingredients
- 700 g Branzino/bar filet save tail and head
- 500 g Puff pastry Recipe
Spinach Stuffing
- 450 g Spinach
- 10 g Garlic cloves crushed
- 10 g Olive oil
- 125 g Cottage cheese
- 10 g Preserved lemon or zest Recipe
- 1 ea. Egg
Herbed Sauce
- 60 g Shallots minced
- 80 g Red vinegar
- 80 g Wine Chardonnay
- 1 ea. Small thyme sprig
- 1 ea. Bay leaf
- 10 g Water (a splash)
- 220 g Butter cubed
- 6 g Tarragon chopped
Egg Wash
- 1 ea. Egg beaten
Instructions
Puff Pastry
- All kind of puff pastries work for this recipe: Traditional puff pastry, inverted puff pastry or quick puff pastry. If using store-bought puff pastry, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight. In a floured work surface roll out pastry into two 0.15-inch/4mm thick and 16X7-inch/40x18cm sheets. Cut a few ovals and strips to make extra fins and the neck. Keep puff pastry refrigerated. Save scraps to make Parisian Flan.
Spinach Stuffing
- Spinach can also be blanched. Remove stems and wash spinach thoroughly and spin-dry. Heat up a hot pot, add olive oil and the crushed garlic. Add spinach, and stir swiftly for a minute on high heat. Season with salt and pepper. Put the lid on, turn off the heat and let stand 2 minutes. Drain spinach. Let cool completely, and remove the garlic. Gather the paper towel around the spinach, forming a bundle. Firmly squeeze the bundle over the sink or a bowl to remove as much moisture as possible. Spinach holds a lot of water, so you may need to repeat this step with fresh paper towels if necessary. Chop spinach and mix with the cottage cheese, the egg and preserved lemon. Add more seasoning if needed. Keep spinach stuffing refrigerated until ready to use.
Herbed Sauce
- In the saucepan, bring to a boil the vinegar, wine, shallots, bay leaf and thyme. Reduce mixture to two-thirds on low heat. Remove the thyme and bay leaf. Whisk in water and the butter on medium-low heat. Season with salt and pepper and add the chopped tarragon and preserved lemon or zest. Bring to a quick boil – Serve warm.
Montage
- Season fish filets with fleur de sel, ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil – keep refrigerated. Lay the first pastry sheet onto a baking tray lined with parchment. Place one seasoned filet in the center, and reconstitute the fish with its head and tail. Cover and stuff the filet and head cavity with the spinach stuffing. Top with the second filet. Egg wash pastry around the fish, and enclose it with the second chilled pastry sheet. Seal pastry chasing air pockets as you go. To ease this procedure, do not hesitate to refrigerate or freeze the preparation for 10 minutes or so between steps. With the pizza cutter and small knife, trim off excess dough by following the shape of the reconstituted fish in puff pastry (leave more pastry towards the fins. Egg wash pastry. Carve the tail and fins using the back of a paring knife. To mimic the fish scales, use the plain pastry tip. Stick a pastry strip around the fish neck. Create extra fins, and wrap the tail using the saved oval pastries. Place loup en croute in the refrigerator a couple of hours before baking.
Baking
- Preheat fan oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Bake for about 35 minutes. Bon appétit!
Nutrition
Serving: 100g | Calories: 210kcal
