Author Notes
This delicious, buttery and very versatile pastry dough is an easy and a lot faster alternative for puff pastry. It can be filled with all kinds of savory and sweet fillings and baked as rolls and pies. You can also use this recipe for tartlets and vole-au vents. I even use this pastry, when baking baklava. The filling I am sharing today is inspired by Fish Pies, which are very popular in England, Germany and especially in Russia. Originally an yeasty dough is used for the Fish Pies but I prefer a flaky and buttery pastry, which will melt in your mouth and embrace the filling tighter. Trout can be substitute with any fish filet and also mushrooms, rice, buckwheat, cooked eggs and deferent vegetables, herbs and spices are often used in combination with fish. —Kukla
Ingredients
- For the Pastry
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• 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
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• ½ teaspoon coarse salt
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• ½ cold water or a little more
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• 6 tablespoons butter, melted 2 tablespoons at a time
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• 1 large egg yolk, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
- For the filling
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• 3 tablespoons olive oil
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• 10- 12 ounces trout fillets, deboned, skinned and cut into chunks
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• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
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• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, softened
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• 2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream
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• 1 tablespoon parsley leaves, finely chopped
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• 1 tablespoon dill, finely chopped
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• 1 medium red onion, finely diced
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• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
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• 1 tablespoon ginger or horseradish or wasabi root, finely grated
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• Juice of 1 lemon
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• 1 large egg white
Directions
- For the Pastry
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Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Add salt and enough water to make a firm dough. Knead for a couple minutes, cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.
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Roll the dough out on a floured board to a 9 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, fold it in quarters, wrap in plastic or wax paper and chill for 15 minutes.
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Roll out the dough once again; brush it with 2 more tablespoons of butter, fold, and chill. Repeat it one more time and chill until ready to fill. Can be made 1 to 2 days ahead.
- For the filling
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In a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil. Add half of trout chunks, sprinkle with salt, and cook over high heat until it isn’t translucent any more but still slightly raw in the center, about 3 minutes, transfer to a plate. Repeat with the other half of salmon chunks. Cool to room temperature.
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Place the trout, 6 tablespoons of the butter and garlic in a food processor, puree until smooth and thoroughly combined. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in the crème fraîche, parsley, dill, ginger, onion and lemon juice. Beat the egg white until foamy and fold it in to the mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
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Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cover a reamed baking sheet with parchment paper butter or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
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Roll the dough out into a 12 by 16-inch rectangle. Place the filling on the longer side in one row within 1 ½- inches of the edges and roll up starting from the longer side. Using your hands, carefully stretch the roll to 28 inches.
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Brush the seam of the roll with a little cold water; then cut it in half, place the rolls on the prepared baking sheet seam side down. Brush with the beaten egg yolk and score the top with a sharp knife in about 1-inch slices.
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Refrigerate while the oven is preheating. Bake until golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet while still warm and cool on a rack.
Serve while still warm with a salad of your choice.
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