Softly tender and beautifully verdant, baby spinach adds a gentle freshness to dishes.
Seafood, spinach and asparagus puff-pastry cloud
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the pastry:
4 sheets of all-butter, pre-rolled puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
For the filling:
200g scallops
300g skinless salmon, diced
200g raw prawns
150g asparagus, woody ends removed and halved
2 tbspn olive oil
2 tbspn unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, grated
100ml dry white wine
200ml double cream
1 lemon, zest and juice of
1 tspn Dijon mustard
200g baby spinach leaves
A small chopped handful each of parsley and dill
Lightly dressed micro-greens to serve
Method
Cut one sheet of pastry into a 25cm–30cm (10in–12in) circle. Place it on a parchment-lined baking tray and prick all over with a fork. Cut the remaining sheets of pastry to the same size, then cut inner circles so you are left with rings of about 5cm (2½in) width and three circles. Brush the rings with beaten egg and add them to the circular base to form the pastry cloud. Next, brush the circles with beaten egg, place them on top of one another (this will be the lid), then put them next to the cloud on the baking tray. Brush the top of the circle pile and the top of the rings with beaten egg and chill for 20 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180˚C fan/200˚C/400˚F/gas mark 6. Bake the puff pastry for 25 minutes or until golden and browned, so no raw areas remain between the layers. Set aside.
Add the asparagus to boiling water and cook for 2–3 minutes, then remove to iced water to stop them cooking further. Set aside.
Add olive oil and butter to a large flying pan and fry the scallops until gently golden on both sides. Remove to a plate. Repeat with the salmon and then the prawns. To the same pan, add the diced shallot and garlic, cooking until softened, then deglaze the pan with the white wine. Simmer for a couple of minutes to reduce before stirring in the cream, lemon zest and juice, plus Dijon mustard. Stir in the baby spinach to wilt. Return the seafood and asparagus to the pan, stir in and cook briefly to heat through.
Spoon the creamy seafood filling into the centre of the puff-pastry cloud and then scatter over the fresh herbs. Place the circle of puff pastry on top and add a handful of the greens on top of that. Serve immediately, bringing the whole cloud to the table, and slice.
-
Minette Batters: 'It would be wrong to turn my back on the farming sector in its hour of need'Minette Batters explains why she's taken a job at Defra, and bemoans the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
-
'This wild stretch of Chilean wasteland gives you what other National Parks cannot — a confounding sense of loneliness': One writer's odyssey to the end of the worldWhere else on Earth can you find more than 752,000 acres of splendid isolation? Words and pictures by Luke Abrahams.
-
Gill Meller's recipe for a seasonal new potato omelette, with smoked garlic, onions and Cheddar cheese -
How to make a rhubarb and Swiss meringue cake that's almost too pretty to eatMake the most of the last few stems of forced rhubarb.
-
The prettiest Easter eggs for 2025Warning: Don't read if hungry.
-
An Italian-inspired recipe for lemon-butter pasta shells with spring greens, ricotta and pangrattatoSpring greens are just about to come into their own, so our Kitchen Garden columnist reveals exactly what to do with them.
-
Curious Questions: What is the greatest April Fool's prank ever played?As April 1 looms, Martin Fone tells the tale of one of the finest stunts ever pulled off.
-
Tom Parker Bowles's Tour de Fromage, from creamy Camembert and spicy, pungent Époisses to the 'mighty, swaggering Roqueforts'The chef and food writer Tom Parker Bowles picks out his all-time favourite cheeses from across the Channel in France, from buxom, creamy Camembert to mighty, swaggering Roquefort.
-
'For here is pure noodle nirvana': How to make Tom Parker Bowles's favourite Thai soupThe best bit about south-eat Asian-inspired soups is the fact that you can make them entirely your own, from mellow and comforting to blow-your-head-off hot.
-
Gill Meller's recipe for wild garlic pestoThe appearance of wild garlic is a sure sign that spring is on the way. Make the most of it with this quick and easy recipe for 'intense' pesto.
