This is an Easter recipe I wrote for the Italian site Principessa platessa, dedicated to the promotion of Dutch plaice in Italy.
It’s easy quick to make, nutritious and tasty.
You probably already have all the ingredients in your fridge and freezer: puff pastry, frozen plaice or other fish, spinach and eggs.
So why not try it, this Easter?
Fagottini di sfoglia con platessa e spinaci
Ingredients for about 6-7 “bundles”
ca. 320 gr. of plaice fillets, fresh or thawed (other fish is fine too)
1 medium sized onion
2 rolls of ready-made puff pastry of about 230 gr.
100 gr. of cooked and well squeezed spinach (about 120 gr. of fresh spinach)
30 gr. of grated pecorino romano (or other cheese of your choice)
1 organic lemon (only the peel)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 egg, medium-sized
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
ACCESSORIES: oven dish, baking parchment, kitchen brush
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Steam the plaice fillets or poach them in about 1,5 cm. of lightly salted water until they are tender and well cooked.
Drain them, let them cool and break them in pieces with your hands. Put inside a bowl.
If you use fresh spinach you will need about 120 gr.: let it wilt gently in a non-stick pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and then let it cool. Squeeze it well with your hands in order to remove all the excess moisture. If you use frozen spinach, let it thaw and squeeze it well.
Peel the onion and chop it.
Pour two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion until it’s lightly caramelized. If necessary, use a lid so that it cooks slowly and evenly without burning.
Separate the white from the egg yolk and keep the yolk aside to brush the fagottini.
Chop the spinach and put in the bowl with the crumbled plaice together with the caramelized onion, the garlic, peeled and finely chopped, the pecorino cheese, the grated lemon peel, the egg white, salt and black pepper to taste. Mix well.
Roll out the puff pastry and cut in squares of about 12-13 cm. per side.
Lightly brush the edges of the puff pastry squares with a little egg yolk lengthened with a bit of water and fill them with the mixture that you have previously divided into 6-7 portions.
Fold the squares of pastry to create triangles and close the edges well, pressing them first with your fingers and then with the tines of a fork.
Place the triangles on a oven dish covered with baking parchment and brush them with the remaining egg yolk.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until the fagottini are golden and well cooked and serve warm or at room temperature.