I've had Lemon French Fries and they were great. I decided to give my mashed potatoes a lemon twist. They came so delicious! I made the potatoes last night so that they wouldn't be too soft and perhaps leak out of the pie. I wanted the potatoes in the pie cold. Also, I made the spinach last night too. it cuts down on the work on the night you construct the pie. And also, you remove your box of puff pastry from the freezer the night before you use it. Seems like a lot of work but it isn't really if you break it up into two nights. One of the best dinners I have made.
INGREDIENTS:
5 large potatoes peeled and cut in chunks
11 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/4 Onion, minced
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 cup milk
Zest of one Lemon
1 tsp. Lemon Pepper
1/2 Lemon
Kosher salt
Olive Oil
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large Salmon Filets
1 Box Puff Pastry
1 Egg for egg wash
1 Bag Spinach, cooked and drained
RECIPE:
Put the potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Bring to a low boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt 1 Tbs. of the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook until browned. Next, add in the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until it has softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add in the remaining butter until melted. Then slowly add in the milk while stirring. Next, add in the lemon zest. When the butter has melted, season the mixture well with Salt & Pepper. Take pot off the heat and keep the mixture warm while the potatoes continue cooking.
When the potatoes are done, drain them and return them to the pot in which they were cooked, set over low heat. Stir the potatoes to dry them until they just start to stick to the pot, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the warm milk mixture to the potatoes as you mash them. If they’re dry, add up to 1/4 cup more milk. Season the potatoes to taste with salt and pepper and refrigerate overnight.
Time to make the pie: Preheat oven to 400.
Take out the potatoes from the fridge to get the chill off them. Take out one sheet of Puff Pastry. Roll it out a little on a floured surface. Lay it down in your pie pan and prick holes in the bottom with a fork. Add a piece of parchment on top and blind bake it for 10 minutes. I used dry rice to hold down the dough. The dough will shrink if you don't. After 10 minutes, remove from oven, dispose of parchment and lower oven temperature to 375.
In a skillet, drizzle olive oil. Lay down your salmon and add a couple of dabs of butter to the top of them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and lemon pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes and turn fillets over. Put the skillet right away in the oven to finish for 5 more minutes. You don't want to cook them all the way because they will continue to cook in the pie.
Remove from oven and let them sit for 5 minutes. When the heat is off them cut each one in half. Take your pie crust pan and lay the fish on the bottom. Take your cooked spinach and lay it down in the fish skillet to catch all the juices. Now take the spinach and lay it all around the fish. Next, add the mashed potatoes covering all of the spinach and fish.
Take the egg wash and brush the sides of the cooked pastry. Then, roll out your top pastry and make a bunch of cuts in it. This will allow the steam to escape. Lay the pastry on top of the pie and squeeze the top and bottom crusts together. Now brush egg wash on the entire pie.
Put pie in the 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. Enjoy!!
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