Both my kids have diametrically opposite good preferences. Kid#1 can eat curry and loves his bacon and sausages and won’t touch seafood, but kid#1 adores salmon and most seafood and stays away from spicy stuff. Kid#1 also hates monotony and loses interest in food that is repeated too often, but kid#2 can eat the same breakfast for months on end. So cooking for the family can be a little tricky especially when hubs avoids pork and my dad avoids cuttlefish and shellfish.
But this weekend I decided that I would cook what I wanted. I had a lovely slab of salmon sitting in the freezer for a while and I figured I would bake a salmon Wellington for Sunday dinner. I’ve been on a bit of a fathead dough thing at the moment and I confess I’ve been wrapping everything up in fathead dough! Honestly, once you get used to doing it, the dough is surprisingly easy to work with. I think for me the recognition is that the dough does need to be at the right texture for rolling. This means that depending on the size of the egg (which lends the most moisture to the dough), the amount of the almond flour needs to be tweaked to make sure that the dough isn’t too wet. And that is literally all that you need to worry about.
The fathead dough can crisp up pretty nicely in the oven. And surprisingly although there’s plenty mozzarella in the dough, there isn’t an overwhelming cheesiness to it. Somehow the fathead dough does complement a lot of different types of filling. Of course for this salmon Wellington the extra cheesiness is complementary and amps up the flavour.
I wasn’t sure if the dough would leak (I’ve dealt with mini-explosions in the oven before). So I slashed the top of the pie and also baked it in a glass casserole dish. In the end that was unnecessary as the dough held up well. The next time I make this I will probably bake it on a baking tray instead. I think although the base of the Wellington was well cooked through, perhaps a metal baking tray may ensure that the base of the pastry also crisps up a bit.
Anyway kid#1 refused to try the salmon Wellington (the only fish he condescends to eat is nuked or smothered in batter like in fish and chips). Kid#2 however gave me her highest accolade and told me that I had “knocked it out of the park”. So based on that alone I’m going to name this recipe a keeper!
Low Carb Salmon Wellington
Ingredients
- Dough
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1 egg
- 1 slab of salmon fillet, about 400-500g
- 1 bag fresh baby spinach
- 1/2 white onion, finely diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
- 100g cream cheese
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
Filling
Directions
- Microwave the mozarella and cream cheese for about 1.5 – 2 minutes. Stir in the almond flour and egg and mix well. Set aside and prepare the filling.
- Preheat the oven to 220 deg C.
- In a skillet, put 2 tbsp oil and stir fry the onions and garlic over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the baby spinach, salt, pepper, dill and paprika and stir fry another 2-3 minutes till the spinach is wilted.
- Remove the spinach mix from the heat and put in a bowl. Add the cream cheese in cubes, as well as the parmesan cheese and mix well.
- Remove the skin from the salmon fillet and ensure all the pin bones have been removed. Pat the fish dry.
- Roll out the dough in between 2 sheets of baking paper into a roughly rectangular shape and as thinly as possible. Place half the spinach and cheese mixture in the center of the dough, spreading it in a rectangular shape that approximates the size of the salmon fillet. Place the salmon over the spinach mixture, then put the rest of the spinach mixture on top of the fish.
- Carefully fold over the dough to cover the fish. Flip the dough packet over, seam side down on a lined baking sheet. With a sharp knife, slash the dough in parallel diagonal lines about 1 inch apart.
- With a brush, brush egg wash over the exposed dough. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve hot with a crisp side salad.
Still Feeling Peckish 
I used a different filling as I was making traditional wellington with puff pastry for my family from another recipe, but wanted a low carb one for me too, and reduced the dough a bit as I was wrapping a smaller fillet, but it turned out great. I wrapped the dough around the fillet with the seam at the bottom and baked it on a metal sheet for about 25 minutes. I forgot the egg wash, but it didn’t really need it as it turned a beautiful golden brown. I think the egg wash actually would have made it too dark. And, the bottom wasn’t soggy at all, which was a pleasant surprise. I am going to have use this for other things. I see hand pies in my future!
Ive made this quite a few times and the pastry layer can look really pretty with dough cut outs too. I really love this recipe!