This Sourdough Salmon Loaf is made with homemade sourdough, salmon filet, and creamed spinach spiked with a hint of garam masala for dimension and warmth.
Near the end of January I attended a sourdough workshop at The Baking Lab Amsterdam and came home with a bit of sourdough starter that I’ve since been experimenting with. This loaf is the result of one such experiment. It came about because I found some beautiful salmon filets on sale and had a few odd and ends in the fridge including a bag of fresh spinach and half a tub of mascarpone.
The concept is similar to a Salmon Wellington or a Russian coulibiac, only instead of puff pastry the salmon is wrapped in a fluffy layer of bread. The bread is a nice change from puff pastry. Whereas puff pastry is light, crisp and rich all on its own – bread dough (particularly sourdough) is the perfect vehicle to absorb and transport a flavourful filling.
To make this sourdough loaf I used homemade sourdough, a whole salmon filet, fresh spinach, onion, mascarpone, and garam masala.
PrintSourdough Salmon Loaf with Garam Masala Creamed Spinach
This Sourdough Salmon Loaf is made with homemade sourdough, salmon filet, and creamed spinach spiked with a hint of garam masala for dimension and warmth.
- Prep Time: 50
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Baking
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Global
Ingredients
Dough
1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup melted butter
¼ cup warm water
1 teaspoon cornmeal (optional)
Filling
400 grams / 14 oz spinach, rough chopped into smaller pieces
700 grams / 24 oz whole salmon filet, skin removed
2 eggs (save some for egg wash)
2 onions, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 heaping spoonfuls of mascarpone
1.5 teaspoons of garam masala
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
Olive oil for frying
Instructions
Filling
Cook: Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until aromatic (2-3 minutes). Add spinach and cover to help it wilt. Remove lid, add salt and turn up heat to medium-high to dehydrate the spinach (about 5 minutes). Turn off heat and mix in two heaping spoons of mascarpone then add the black pepper, garam masala and the eggs, reserving about a tablespoon of egg for the egg wash.
Dough
Mix: Add the starter, flour, water with melted butter to the bowl of a stand mixer with bread hook attachment. Knead with dough hook for 10 – 15 minutes until smooth and then form into ball and cover to proof for at least 30 minutes. You can also mix and knead by hand.
Prepare a pan: Line a shallow baking dish with parchment paper or aluminium foil. Sprinkle the bottom with cornmeal if using aluminium foil.
Shape: Once you’ve prepared the creamed spinach and salmon, then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to about 1/2 cm / 1/4 inch thickness.
Assemble: The filling and salmon should be placed onto the dough off-center to either side so that there is more dough on one side than can be pulled over to create a nice seam. Starting with a layer of spinach spooned onto the dough, sandwich the salmon filet between layers of spinach. Depending on the size of your filet you may have one or two layers. Once the layers are in, carefully fold over the top and bottom and then each side, creating a smooth seam. Let proof about 20 minutes and then just before baking brush egg over the surface.
Bake: Bake at 200 C / 400 F for 25 minutes covered (with a lid or lightly with aluminium foil) then remove cover and bake uncovered for the last 5 minutes.
Notes
I was missing a rolling pin and so I rolled out my dough in strips using a pasta roller. When I wrapped the loaf up with the strips it created a nice rippled effect. If you like, you can achieve this by cutting strips into your dough and weaving them together.
I used a ceramic baking pan that happened to be just the right size to fit my salmon. This isn’t absolutely necessary as long as the dough can be sealed around the salmon
Keywords: salmon loaf, salmon wellington, sourdough, sourdough loaf, sourdough salmon loaf, bread, salmon bread
Leave a Reply