by Jamison Godfrey •
As the weather cools down and indoor living looks more appealing, you can always rely on fresh Atlantic salmon being available at most usual stockists.
However, in Tassie we are lucky enough to have plenty of waterways that hold many escapees all year round and are excellent sport on reasonably light gear for the lure or fly fanatic. So try catching one of your own to try this recipe through the cooler months, it will taste a lot nicer from your own efforts.
This pastry recipe comes from my old cooking college days, but I have opted to go all butter rather than half lard and half butter, besides it’s much better for you!
Ingredients
Pastry
500g plain flour
250g butter
3 eggs
Filling
250g salmon portion
Fine cracked black pepper
1 punnet cherry tomatoes halved
Fresh sprigs oregano torn
50g green beans sliced
½ red onion sliced
150g grated cheddar cheese
6 free range eggs
100ml thickened cream
Maldon salt to taste
Grease-proof paper and pastry weights or plain rice
Method
Place butter and flour into food processor and pulse until it looks like breadcrumbs. If you don’t have a food processor you can do it by hand in a large mixing bowl and rub flour/butter together for the same result. Add eggs one at a time and mix to form a smooth pastry, cover with cling wrap and rest for 40 minutes.
While the pastry is resting, preheat oven to 180°C and sprinkle the salmon portion with pepper and bake for 7-8 minutes, remove and rest at room temperature.
Tomato Tart
I have opted for the rectangle shaped tart tin. Round is fine also, but quantities may need to be altered.
Grease the tart tin well, flour your bench and proceed to roll out pastry; you may not need it all with some left over.
You need a 3mm thick base at the most. Once rolled out, roll pastry back over the rolling pin then roll pastry back over the tin pushing the pastry firmly into the gaps, then remove excess pastry.
With a fork, prick the bottom of the pastry from one end to the other randomly to avoid pastry puffing up while cooking: this is called docking.
Line the pastry and tin with grease-proof paper and fill with pastry weights or as I have, plain white rice and place into the oven for 10 minutes: this is called blind baking.
Take the tart case from the oven, remove grease-proof paper and rice or weights and place back in the oven for a further five minutes to crisp up. Remove from the oven to cool slightly.
To fill the tart shell, flake the salmon with your fingers (not using the skin), add beans, onions and torn oregano.
Whisk the eggs and cream together and pour into the shell, being careful not to over fill.
Place the cherry tomatoes and cheese on top, sprinkle with salt and bake for 25-30 minutes or when pastry is golden, remove from the oven and cool slightly before serving.
This recipe is from award winning chef Jamison Godfrey of the Drunken Admiral restaurant in Hobart, Tasmania. If you’re ever in Hobart we highly recommend visiting the Drunken Admiral and sampling their delicious menu of seasonal, local produce for yourself.
More info: www.drunkenadmiral.com.au
