Trout, Leek and Chard Wellington is perfect for entertaining for all the right reasons. It’s elegant, loaded with flavor, and, you can have it prepped and waiting in the fridge hours before anyone is ringing your doorbell.
3leekswhite and light green parts, cut in half and finely choppedsave dark green stems for soups or stocks
saltto taste
pepperto taste
3Tbspheavy (35%) cream
All purpose flour for dustingcan be gluten-free flour
1sheetpuff pastry, thawed according to pkg. instructions
1Tbspground sumac
1lbfish filet or side of trout, salmon, or even codskin removed is best, ask your fishmonger
1eggbeaten
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a baking sheet.
Preheat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add 3 Tbsp (45 mL) butter. When the butter starts to foam, sauté shallots with the garlic until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the Swiss chard, toss and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté until wilted, then transfer to a bowl to cool. Once cooled, strain off any excess liquid, finely chop and set aside.
Melt remaining butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add leeks, season with salt and pepper and continue to sauté until softened,about 5–7 minutes.
Stir in cream and let it reduce for 1 minute, or until the mixture looks more saucy than wet. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Dust a little flour onto a clean counter and gently unfold or roll out the puff pastry sheet so that it’s large enough to fold around your trout. Prick pastry with a fork a few times, just like you would a pie crust.
Spread an even layer of Swiss chard down the middle of the puff pastry so that it is the same width as the piece of trout. Layer leeks overtop the Swiss chard.
Season both sides of the fish with salt, pepper and sumac. Place fish on top of the chard and leeks and fold the pastry around it to enclose. Trim edges of the pastry, if necessary, with a knife; place, seam side down on lined baking sheet.
Brush top and sides of the pastry with the beaten egg wash, score top of the pastry 3 times with a knife and sprinkle with a little salt.
Bake 15–18 minutes, depending on thickness of fish filet, and until pastry is puffed and golden brown. Let rest for 5 minutes before portioning.
Notes
COOL FACT: PUFF PASTRY LOVES TO BE KEPT COLDClassic puff pastry is said to have 729 layers of flour and butter. The butter, if kept cold and in its solid state, melts quickly when blasted with heat from the oven. This causes steam pockets that form a really puffy pastry.