Have you ever heard of a Coulibiac of Salmon? I can honestly say that before my cruise with CroisiEurope last year I had never heard of this delightfully delicious dish.
Some dishes are easy to make and others take a little extra prep work. This salmon dish of Russian descent does take a little extra prep work than most of my recipes. But I promise you it will be well worth the effort.
What Ingredients Do I Need to Make a Coulibiac of Salmon?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make a Coulibiac of Salmon. In Chef Speak this is called the Mise en Place which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
What is a Coulibiac of Salmon?
A Coulibiac is a type of Russian Pirog (baked case of dough with either sweet or savory filling).
It’s usually filled with salmon or sturgeon, rice or buckwheat, hard-boiled eggs, mushrooms, onions, and dill.
The pie is baked in a pastry shell, usually of brioche or puff pastry.
The dish was so popular in Russia in the early part of the 20th century that Auguste Escoffier, the famed French chef, brought it to France and included recipes for it in his masterwork, The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery.
And this is how a Classic Russian dish found its way into Classical French Cuisine.
Do I have to Use Salmon for this dish?
No you don’t. You could use a number of fish for this recipe.
- cod
- haddock
- halibut
- pollock
- hake
- grouper
- red snapper
Do I have to use all the stuffing ingredients in my Coulibiac?
No you don’t. Mine is more along the lines of the deluxe version. I added all the ingredients commonly used in this dish, most of which are not all used at the same time.
If you do a search on Coulibiac you’ll find no two versions are similar. The ingredients and how they are layered are entirely up to you.
My Coulibiac of Salmon is layered to look as good as it tastes.
Can I make individual Coulibiac?
Yes you can. Just cut the pastry sheets into smaller pieces to accommodate the smaller piece of salmon.
You may want to get an extra box of puff pastry if you make individual pieces.
How do I make a Coulibiac of Salmon?
After all of your ingredients are prepped and chilled it’s time to start assembling this dish.
The first step is to roll out the puff pastry dough to about 12 x 15 inches or slightly larger.
*Make sure not to let the dough get too warm or you won’t be able to unfold it. Flour the rolling pin so the puff dough doesn’t stick. Also, make sure the surface is well floured. Keep the top piece refrigerated until you’re ready to work with it.
Sometimes the puff dough just doesn’t cooperate and you have to reform and reroll the dough. I had to do the bottom piece 3 times and it still came out perfect.
Once the dough is rolled out you can start the assembly. The rice layer needs to be at least 1 inch deep. It will compress and you’ll wonder what happened to the rice.
Then add the layer of spinach (sauteed with the shallots). You can add bleu cheese crumbles or a cheese of your choice on top of the spinach for added flavor.
*Leaving the cheese out won’t affect the overall flavor.
Next add the mushrooms, you’ll notice how dark they are. I let the mushrooms cook for about 15 minutes to allow them to caramelize to enhance the flavor.
The final layer is the salmon. Season the salmon well with sea salt and black pepper (don’t be afraid to overseason the fish). Then add pieces of the fresh dill on top of the salmon.
The last step is the egg layer. This can be an optional layer if you’re not fond of eggs.
The last step is to add the top layer of puff pastry dough. Brush the edges of the bottom layer with the lightly beaten egg, before adding the top layer.
The egg will help it seal. Next, use a fork around the edges to further seal the puff dough. If you have skills you can add your own special touch to the dough.
Brush the entire package with the lightly beaten egg. This will give the finished dish a beautiful glossy brown finish.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes or until the puff dough is golden brown or the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees F.
Slice the Coulibiac of Salmon with a sharp Chef’s knife (I first tried a serrated knife and it didn’t cut the salmon well, you can see it flaking in the picture).
The Dijon Dill Sauce is pretty easy. If it gets too thick add a little water or more wine to the sauce.
- Add dill and white wine to saute pan over medium heat. Reduce wine by half.
- Add Dijon mustard and heavy cream to pan and allow sauce to thicken.
- Remove from heat and whip in butter with a wire whisk.
Serve the dijon dill sauce with the salmon and enjoy!
If you love salmon, you may also like these recipes:
- Marinated Grilled Salmon
- Mediterranean Style Salmon
- Blackened Salmon Salad
- Stuffed Salmon with Cream Cheese and Crabmeat
Coulibiac of Salmon
Ingredients
Coulibiac of Salmon
- 24 oz salmon filet (one piece)
- 2 cups cooked rice (I used brown rice) chilled
- 1 tbsp red pepper fine dice
- 1 tsp Italian parsley fine mince
- 16 oz baby spinach sauteed and most of the water squeezed out
- 2 large shallots fine dice
- 16 oz mushrooms sliced and sauteed until well caramelized
- 2 oz bleu cheese (optional)
- 2 large hard cooked eggs cooked, chilled, and sliced
- 2 sprigs dill sprigs pulled apart
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 sheets puff pastry rolled out to 12 x 15
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
Dijon Dill Sauce
- 1 tsp dill finely minced
- 2 oz white wine
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 6 oz heavy cream
- 2 tbsp butter
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
Coulibiac of Salmon Prep
- Saute spinach with shallots in a large pan with a little olive oil. Allow spinach to cool and squeeze out most of the liquid from the spinach. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour
- Saute mushrooms in olive oil for 10-15 minutes until caramelized. Drain off any liquid and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Cook rice in chicken or vegetable stock. When finished add in chopped red peppers and parsley. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Defrost pastry dough in fridge and take out one piece to work with. On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out the puff pastry dough to about 12 inches by 15 inches (32 x 40 cm).
Assembly
- Start by adding the rice layer to the puff pastry. The rice layer needs to be at least 1 inch deep. It will compress and you’ll wonder what happened to the rice.
- Add the layer of spinach (sauteed with the shallots) on top of the rice layer. You can add bleu cheese crumbles or a cheese of your choice on top of the spinach for added flavor. *Leaving the cheese out won’t affect the overall flavor.
- Add the layer of mushrooms on top of the spinach layer.
- Place the Salmon on top of the mushrooms. Season the salmon well with sea salt and black pepper (don’t be afraid to overseason the fish). Then add pieces of the fresh dill on top of the salmon.
- The last step is adding the sliced eggs on top of the salmon.This can be an optional layer if you’re not fond of eggs.
- Roll out the top piece of puff dough as you did the bottom piece.Brush the edges of the bottom layer with the lightly beaten egg, before adding the top layer. Add the top layer of puff pastry dough.*The egg will help it seal. Next, use a fork around the edges to further seal the puff dough. If you have skills you can add your own special touch to the dough.
- Brush the entire package with the lightly beaten egg. This will give the finished dish a beautiful glossy brown finish.
- Bake at 350 degrees F (180 C) for 50-60 minutes or until the puff dough is golden brown or the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees F (74 C)
- Slice the Coulibiac of Salmon with a sharp Chef’s knife or serated knife and serve with the Dijon dill sauce.
Dijon Dill Sauce
- Add dill and white wine to saute pan over medium heat. Reduce wine by half.
- Add Dijon mustard and heavy cream to the pan and allow the sauce to thicken.
- Remove from heat and whip in butter with a wire whisk.
Notes
Nutrition
Faye
I read an article about favorite dishes of the British royal family and this was listed as Prince Phillip’s! So, I Googled it and found your recipe. My husband is a meat-and-potatoes kinda guy, but he does like all the components of this dish. I’ve halved the recipe since it’s just us two and pre-assembled it; it’s in the fridge now. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Five stars for the well written recipe, clear directions, and video
Jo
I made this tonight and it looked amazing, cooked perfectly etc. Let it stand 10 mins… then tried to slice it thickly (c2″) with a very sharp carving knife (the one we use for roast beef) and the whole thing disintegrated 🙁
It tasted good….so want to try again.
What went wrong, and how can it be made to stick together?
Chef Dennis Littley
Next time try using a serrated knife. I’m not sure why it would have broken up but a serrated knife might help. If using a sharp chef’s knife, try using the point of the knife into the crust first, then work the knife down with a steady but lighter hand. Pushing down to hard might be the problem.
Eve
Hello there, Chef Dennis! This was absolutely fantastic! I honestly wasn’t expecting anything sensational. I thought it would definitely be good, but I was definitely surprised how delicious it was. I missed the tip about using an inch thickness of rice. You’re so right, it really does compress a lot! Either way, it was so delicious, and I was really surprised about how nice the blue cheese was in it. One change I made was I made the eggs into Devilled eggs, since I was worried the yellow yokes would get rubbery. I thought that worked really nicely. The dill-dijon sauce was crazy delicious as well.
Leah
Looks beautiful and delicious. Will yry it next time I want to impress.
Lindsey
What a beautiful dish! I could see serving this meal at a nice brunch with friends
Jo
I love how those different layers are packed so neatly. The flavors are amazing to me.
Lindsey
What a beautiful dish! I can imagine serving this dish at a really nice brunch with friends
Alena
This recipe is definitely a crowd-pleaser and the layers are so impressive. That cross-section is unbelievably beautiful.
Alena
This recipe is definitely a crowd-pleaser and so impressive. That cross-section is unbelievably beautiful.
Charity
I love learning from you! I’ve never heard the word coulibiac but an distant inlaw served something similar for dinner many years ago. It’s amazing how food can spark memories. Thanks for the recipe.
Ramona
What a fantastic ide! I love salmon but I never prepared this way, the rice is definitely something I never thought of adding but I will definitely need to try this delicious looking and unique recipe!
Paige
Wow and YUM…this does look like a special occasion dish, and I’ve got one coming up so bookmarking this!
kathryn donangelo
This recipe is fantastic! I love salmon prepared most ways but this recipe is over the top!! Such a unique and delicious way to enjoy salmon!
Debbie
This is such a lovely salmon dish! I have never made anything like this so your step by step photos were great. That dijon sauce was amazing and really helped enhance the flavor of the fish. This is a new favorite at my house.
Sharon
This is an elegant salmon dish that has so many layers of flavor. I love the Dijon dill sauce for topping.
Jessica Formicola
We had this salmon for dinner last night and it was wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Jen Talley
Oh my goodness! SO delicious! And that dill sauce is to die for!! Thank you for the step by step pictures. They were very helpful!