I got the inspiration for this simple and delicious recipe from very dear, loyal regular customers who lent us their recipe book "Pâtés" by Stéphane Reynaud, which we have been rummaging through ever since. For Easter, I opted for a variation filled with fish and eggs and replaced the salmon fillet I originally intended for the filling with canned tuna.
"In the beginning was the dough" ... that's what the foreword to the beautiful baking book says, which of course also contains the basic recipes for sweet and salty puff pastry and shortcrust pastry. However, the author also has mercy on stress-ridden city dwellers without their own rolling pin and allows the use of ready-made variants à la filo or brik pastry from Greeks or Turks. Depending on the type of dough you choose, the pie will be different. For example, I baked my wafer-thin puff pastry, which was probably intended for Börek from Turkish. I also experimented successfully with a small mini version in a fireproof soufflé dish, of which there are no photos because I was too hungry. So that works too. Also, I could imagine doing the whole thing in a casserole dish... probably just about anything will do. Depending on your preference and kitchen accessories.
When dealing with the recipe and the units of measurement, I was also not very precise. I generally like to freestyle in the kitchen. Since I didn't have 6 people to feed, for whom the recipe is designed, I counted the tuna, the cream and the eggs down to 3 people, but not the herbs and the pastis. Also, I didn't puree the farce in the blender, just mixed it with a fork and crushed it roughly, because I actually think it's nice when you still have a few pieces to chew between your teeth and the consistency of the fish remains recognizable.
Ingredients for 6 people:
- 600 g canned tuna (mixed natural and in oil )
- 1 bunch of dill
- 5 eggs (fresh from the free range farmer in our shop)
- 300 ml cream
- 1 tbsp pasta
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- Salt pepper
- 1 bunch of basil
- 500 grams of puff pastry
- 1 tbsp sesame
Preparation of the filling:
Pluck the leaves from the dill, wash and chop finely. Puree the tuna with the dill, 4 eggs, the cream and the pastis in a blender or mash with a fork and mix well. Fold in the fennel seeds and season with salt and pepper. Pick and wash the basil leaves.
Assembly and baking:
Divide the dough in half and roll out into two equal rectangles. Line a baking sheet with baking paper or grease it with butter and place a pastry base on it. Spread half of the farce over it, leaving a 1cm border free. Top with the basil and cover with the remaining farce. Since I was dealing with very thin dough and had far too much of it available, I divided the farce with a second layer of dough. Brush the edge of the pastry with the remaining beaten egg, place the second sheet of pastry on top and seal the edges tightly. Brush the pie with another egg, sprinkle with the sesame and bake for 45 minutes at 180°C.
Conclusion:
The pie tastes wonderfully light and spicy at the same time. The mixture of dill, basil and fennel seeds is really interesting and aromatic. Personally, the taste of the pastis didn't come through enough for me, so I might take a second tablespoon of it next time. And if you can't get enough of the delicious fennel flavor, you can of course mix in a can of Santa Catarina tuna fillets with fennel !
Fresh out of the oven and warm, I found the pie very tasty, but I actually liked it cold the next day for a picnic.
For me, this really uncomplicated and quickly made pie is the ideal picnic food and therefore great for Easter: for breakfast, for a picnic or for a buffet. Or as a savory treat when you've had enough of chocolate eggs and yeast plaited bread...
And really, you can choose what to put in the filling. If you still have a can of sardines or mackerel - I can imagine capers or olives - just put them in, it will taste good.
A light white wine goes best with the wine. Since I happened to have a bottle of the new Alento branco in the fridge, I tried it out right away and what can I say: it goes perfectly!
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Here is the print-friendly version of the recipe as a pdf version
