This Salmon Wellington comprises an entire side of salmon in garlic butter, topped with spinach cream cheese & covered in flaky puff pastry
A few days too late!
I thought I had posted all my Christmas recipes for this year as planned! I was casually scrolling through my Christmas photos on my phone when I saw my Salmon Wellington. OMG, How could I forget to post this?
There were two options for me and these were to save this Salmon Wellington recipe for next year’s Christmas or post this even though Christmas is over.
I obviously choose the latter because I couldn’t bear to wait until next year to share this mouthwatering Salmon Wellington!
Apologies for not sharing this recipe in time, however, there are a few special occasions coming up! Hello 2023, Valentine’s Day and Easter! This Salmon Wellington will be perfect for those days, and if not, it makes for a delicious casual family dinner!
What is a Salmon Wellington? A Salmon Wellington is a copycat version of the popular English ‘Beef Wellington’. However, there are a few changes, obviously with the salmon, but also there’s no pate or mushrooms. Instead, we have cream cheese and spinach sauce, which complements the salmon beautifully.
For extra flavouring, the salmon has a gorgeous butter mixture rubbed all over it, then it’s encased in flaky puff pastry. You’ll be so impressed when it’s time to take it out of the oven because it just looks amazing. However, you’ll be more impressed with how it tastes. Just like an elegant and flavourful creamy fish pie!
Now that Christmas is over!
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends. Hopefully, everyone’s belly is full and content!
As exciting as Christmas is, it’s also a little stressful for me as I always want things to turn out perfectly, but let’s get real. It never does!
I started my day with a long bath, but maybe I should’ve skipped that because that was one hour I needed in the kitchen.
Whenever I’m hosting I’m frantic. I’m the only cook in my house so it’s only me preparing and cooking. My sister, Nara looks after our very naughty toddler, Kai and my husband, Tomi, is busy decorating and setting up the BBQ.
In the kitchen, I feel like I’m doing a reality cooking show where I am racing against time to get my dishes out before my hungry guests arrived.
Our poor family were starving, but I didn’t get all the food out until and an hour later. My brothers were telling me off for putting too much stress on myself and preparing too much food. However, when it was time to eat, they rushed with everyone else to the table as fast as they could!
Like always, we ended up having a great time. Kai could have anything wanted to eat but he choose only to eat Pluto pups (our version of corndogs). Ah, all those hours in the kitchen and I can’t even get my son to eat my food!
More mouthwatering fish recipes:
Chinese steamed fish
Salmon In Creamy Lemon Sauce
Parmesan Crusted Fish
Salsa Verde with Salmon
Ingredients for Salmon Wellington
Salmon – I used an entire side of salmon, mine weighed 1.4kg/3lb, so anything between 1.3kg/2.9lb to 1.5kg/3.3lb is ideal. Ask your fishmonger to remove the skin and bones for you, and if you like, tell them to you want to keep the skin after it’s been removed. Crispy salmon skin is so good, just fry them up in strips.
Frozen pre-rolled puff pastry – For convenience, I used prepackaged ready-rolled pastry. Mine were 24cm (9.5in) square pastry sheets. Follow the instructions on the packet on how to defrost the pastry sheets, but don’t leave them out for too long. They’ll go elastic and break easily, making them harder to work with.
Baby spinach is more tender and sweeter than regular spinach, this makes them easier to wilt into the cheese mixture.
Parmesan cheese – It’s worth the effort to grate your own parmesan cheese rather than buying store-bought shredded cheese. Most pre-shredded cheese contains anti-caking agents, which may not melt properly when heated and this may make the sauce grainy.
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How to make Salmon Wellington
Step-by-step guide with photos
Remove the salmon from the fridge and pat it dry all over with paper towels. Leave at room temperature for 15-20 minutes (depending on how warm it is)
Optional – Trim the very thin side of the salmon with a sharp knife for a neater look, or so the fillet fits on the tray and oven. Use the cut-up salmon parts later for soup or pan-fry it for a yummy meal!
For the cream cheese mixture – Melt the butter over medium heat in a large deep frying pan or a saucepan. Place in the onions and garlic and stir-fry for a minute or until fragrant. Add in the cream cheese, and use a wooden spoon to help break up the cheese. It’ll melt slowly but look clumpy. This is normal, so just keep stirring.
Once the cream cheese has almost melted, add in parmesan, dill, capers and salt, then stir until the parmesan has melted. Add in the baby spinach, but a bunch at a time whilst stirring constantly, they should wilt into the mixture. Have a taste of the cream cheese mixture, then add more salt and pepper to your liking if needed. Remove the cream cheese mixture from the heat and place it into a bowl and set aside for later.
Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F) or 180°C (360°F) for fan-forced ovens. Line a large tray that can fit the salmon with non-stick baking/parchment paper and spray it lightly with oil spray.
Place two puff pastry sheets on the prepared tray, then join the pastry in the middle by slightly overlapping the pastry by approximately 2cm/0.8in. Press down the seams slightly to join them together. This pastry should be long enough to fit the entire salmon with a few inches remaining to enclose the salmon, if not trim the salmon to make it slightly smaller.
In a small bowl, mix all the butter rub ingredients together until well combined. Lay the salmon on a large board with the smooth side facing up. Place HALF of the butter mixture onto the smooth side of the salmon using your fingers to rub it on until it’s evenly coated.
Carefully place the buttered side of the salmon down in the centre over the prepared pastry, then rub the remaining butter mixture on the other side of the salmon.
Use a large spoon to place the cream cheese mixture over the salmon. Place two puff pastry sheets over the salmon, then join them in the middle following the same method.
Use a knife to trim the pastry around the salmon, leaving approximately 3cm/1in, but take care not to cut the baking paper as you will need this to lift the salmon out later. With the back of a fork, crimp the pastry together to encase the salmon. Score into the pastry diagonally, then brush the egg over the pastry.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the pastry is nice and golden.
Leftovers – Allow the Salmon Wellington to cool completely at room temperature, then transfer it into a sealed container and store it in the fridge. It should be good for 3-4 days.
I’ve used a third-party application to calculate the calories and nutritional information, so please use this as an approximate guide only.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements. For specific details and conversions, visit our Australian Cooking Measurements page.
I would love your feedback and support if you made this recipe. To do this, please rate this recipe and provide a comment by scrolling down this page or by clicking that green circle on the bottom left. An email address is required (for spam), but it won’t be published. I would also love to see your dish, so don’t forget to tag me on my Instagram account ‘3catsfoodie’
Cheers – Cat T
Salmon Wellington (entire side of a salmon)
Ingredients
- 1.3 to 1.5 kg whole side of a salmon (deboned and skinned) (NOTE 1)
CREAM CHEESE MIXTURE
- 40 gm unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- ½ medium brown/yellow onion (diced finely)
- 300 gm cream cheese (chopped roughly into cubes)
- ¾ cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese (NOTE 2)
- ⅓ cup fresh dill (finely chopped)
- ¼ cup baby capers (drained and chopped)
- ½ tsp salt
- 280 gm baby spinach (NOTE 3)
BUTTER RUB
- 40 gm unsalted butter (softened)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground pepper
PASTRY
- 4 sheets puff pastry (NOTE 4)
- 1 small egg (beaten)
Instructions
- Remove the salmon from the fridge and pat it dry all over with paper towels. Leave at room temperature for 15-20 minutes (depending on how warm it is)Optional – Trim the very thin side of the salmon with a sharp knife for a neater look, or so the fillet fits on the tray and oven. Use the cut-up salmon parts later for soup or pan-fry it for a yummy meal!
- For the cream cheese mixture – Melt the butter over medium heat in a large deep frying pan or a saucepan. Place in the onions and garlic and stir-fry for a minute or until fragrant. Add in the cream cheese, and use a wooden spoon to help break up the cheese. It'll melt slowly but look clumpy. This is normal, so just keep stirring.
- Once the cream cheese has almost melted, add in parmesan, dill, capers and salt, then stir until the parmesan has melted. Add in the baby spinach, but a bunch at a time whilst stirring constantly, they should wilt into the mixture. Have a taste of the cream cheese mixture, then add more salt and pepper to your liking if needed. Remove the cream cheese mixture from the heat and place it into a bowl and set aside for later.
- Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F) or 180°C (360°F) for fan-forced ovens. Line a large tray that can fit the salmon with non-stick baking/parchment paper and spray it lightly with oil spray. Place two puff pastry sheets on the prepared tray, then join the pastry in the middle by slightly overlapping the pastry by approximately 2cm/0.8in. Press down the seams slightly to join them together. This pastry should be long enough to fit the entire salmon with a few inches remaining to enclose the salmon, if not trim the salmon to make it slightly smaller.
- In a small bowl, mix all the butter rub ingredients together until well combined. Lay the salmon on a large board with the smooth side facing up. Place HALF of the butter mixture onto the smooth side of the salmon using your fingers to rub it on until it's evenly coated.
- Carefully place the buttered side of the salmon down in the centre over the prepared pastry, then rub the remaining butter mixture on the other side of the salmon. Use a large spoon to place the cream cheese mixture over the salmon. Place two puff pastry sheets over the salmon, then join them in the middle following the same method.
- Use a knife to trim the pastry around the salmon, leaving approximately 3cm/1in, but take care not to cut the baking paper as you will need this to lift the salmon out later. With the back of a fork, crimp the pastry together to encase the salmon. Score into the pastry diagonally, then brush the egg over the pastry.Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the pastry is nice and golden.
