Former MasterChef winner Mat Follas, of the Bramble Café and Deli in Poundbury, shares a delicious salmon recipe with us as he looks ahead to Easter

"April showers or April sunshine?

"The world around us is in full bloom and the late Easter should give a nice break from school and work, well for most of you - for us in service industries it means time for some hard work.

"Don't feel sorry for us though, there are few in the catering industry who don't relish busy times and the buzz it gives us.

"I suspect Dorset will be busier than normal this year as fears of overseas travel post-Brexit cause people to stay home.

"My menu for April is a salmon en croute, it's simple to make and makes a great centrepiece for a dinner or lunch, Jersey Royal new potatoes make a great accompaniment."

SALMON EN CROUTE

PREPARE 20 MINUTES

COOK 30 MINUTES

SERVES 4

Ingredients 500g salmon fillet, skinned and boned

2 happy eggs

1 pak choi

1 dessert spoon of ginger, grated

1 tsp garlic, grated

1 small bunch coriander

1 stick lemongrass

2 green Thai chillies

Zest & juice of two limes

50ml sesame oil

1 pack of ready-rolled puff pastry

Method

This recipe has a hint of Thai flavours which makes it wonderfully tasty.

Firstly, lay the pastry on a buttered sheet of baking parchment and place it in the fridge.

Heat the sesame oil in a frying pan, whisk the eggs together, then add them to the pan and cook to make a thin omelette, put aside to cool (Keep approx ¼ of an egg, to glaze the pastry).

Roughly chop the pak choi. Finely chop the coriander, lemon grass and chillies and mix with the grated garlic, ginger and lime zest.

To Assemble

Take the pastry out of the fridge. Trim the omelette so that it is roughly the size of the salmon.

Place the omelette in the middle of the pastry, then cover the omelette with the pak choi, then the salmon.

If the salmon tail is thin, fold it over on top of itself so that the salmon in roughly an equal thickness.

Sprinkle the spice mixture over the salmon and a little of the lime juice.

Fold the pastry over the salmon, making a neat parcel.

Where it joins, use the egg wash to glue it together. Trim the excess so that you don’t have lumps of pastry (as they will not cook).

If you have excess pastry, you can cut-out some shapes and decorate the top with them before using the egg wash to glaze the pastry.

Place in a preheated oven at 180°C for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and golden.

Serve hot with new potatoes.