We’re doing a whole lot more cooking at home these days – as everyone is – but we’re dreaming of the time we can occasionally escape the kitchen from time to time, again. Until then though, we’re trying to vary what we eat and try out new dishes. Sometimes we do fall back on old favourites, sometimes we go for things we wouldn’t normally eat. But sometimes, we just have to go for what we can cobble together from the cupboards, fridge and freezer. I found a lovely sounding recipe, for a Salmon & Potato Bake, from Delicious Magazine, but we didn’t have all of the ingredients to hand so had to improvise. The original recipe is below, with our substitutes in brackets :
what you’ll need
- 1kg floury potatoes, cut into 3mm slices
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large red onion, sliced
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- A few handfuls of baby spinach (didn’t have fresh spinach, so used frozen)
- Butter, for greasing
- 3 salmon fillets, sliced
- 200ml double cream (didn’t have double cream so switched for mascarpone)
- 50g grated Gruyère (used a mix of provolone & parmesan)
what you’ll need to do
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, then simmer the potatoes for 2-3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the red onion for 5 minutes, then stir in the flour and season well. Add the frozen spinach to the onions and gently heat until defrosted and cooked through.
- Butter an ovenproof dish and layer up the potatoes, onion and spinach with the broken up salmon, ending with a layer of potato.
- Heat the mascarpone until it liquifies, then pour over the bake. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden and bubbling.
I think that if we make this again, the double cream will make a difference – marscarpone was fine, but I think the cream would just blend in a little better. It’s definitely a winter warmer and it’s a nice end-of-the-week meal as the salmon makes it feel just a little bit luxurious and more of a treat. If you make it, enjoy!