Salmon & Spinach Pie

Salmon and spinach are a great combination and it couldn’t be any easier to turn them into something delicious. Little enamel pie dishes are perfect for children’s portions and will also give your meal a nice touch when cooking for friends, however a larger dish works just as well.  Get the kids involved helping you to decorate the pie. All you need is extra pastry and some cookie cutters or knifes. Not sure if I should tell you this but I actually found our fish shape in Max’s play dough tools.

Portions: 2 adults + 2 children
Cooking time: 50 minutes

What's in it: Salmon is an excellent source of omega 3 fats, which are important for brain development. Spinach and dairy provide calcium, vitamin B, C, K, folic acid, iron, and potassium, making this a healthy family meal.

Ingredients:

• 600g Salmon filet, skin off
• 1 sheet of ready-made puff pastry
• 1 large bag of fresh spinach, washed and chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves
• Salt, pepper, nutmeg

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC.
2. Start making a béchamel sauce by melting butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour using a wooden spoon. Then slowly whisk in the milk bit by bit, allowing it to thicken without building lumps. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
3. Add the chopped spinach to the white sauce, gently cook for just a few minutes and set aside.
4. Pour a layer of the spinach mixture into your oven-prove dish. Place salmon piece on top and cover with more spinach.
5. Roll out and cut your puff pastry to the same shape and size of your oven dish and place it on top of the mixture to cover everything nicely.
6. Pierce the pastry with a fork. You may even want to decorate the top.
7. Bake in the oven for 20-40 minutes depending on the size of your dish. It should be ready as soon as the pastry is brown.
8. Serve on its own or with a leafy side salad. 

Attention: The pies will be very hot when taken out of the oven. For the children it’s better to spoon the pie onto a plate so that it can cool down faster.

Can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge or freezer before baking. Once baked, I would NOT recommend reheating as the spinach would loose it’s colour and vitamins.


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About this blog
This blog is about family cooking. It's important to get together for family meals. Here I'm posting healthy family recipes that kids and adults will love and make cooking for the family more fun. All my family recipes are well balanced and healthy family recipes but they can be tweaked for fussy eaters or spiced up for a more sophisticated adult palate. In addition to the healthy family recipes, I'm publishing some of my knitting and crochet patterns for toddler toys and accessories.