Show Off Your Culinary Skills With This Smoked Salmon Mille-Feuille Recipe

Most people appreciate a sweet treat during summer, but light, savory meals can also be pleasant amid the sweltering weather. This delicious smoked salmon mille-feuille recipe from the Institute of Culinary Education will help settle those cravings.

Mille-feuille (pronounced meel-foy) is a classic French dish made of puff pastry layered with a filling. The name translates to “one thousand petals,” referring to the dish’s thin layers. Pauline Balboa Pelea, chef-instructor of Pastry & Baking Arts at ICE, developed this recipe with store-bought puff pastry in mind.

“Most [puff pastry products] are already thin enough that you can just throw them in the oven, or they come in sheets,” she tells Mental Floss. “What you do is sandwich [the sheets] between parchment paper and add a sheet tray just to weigh it down, because it does rise quite a bit. The sheet pan kind of helps it prebake so that it's thin enough—but so crispy.”

To make the smoked salmon mille-feuille, roll out the puff pastry dough and refrigerate it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet for an hour. After that, dock the dough by pricking it all over its surface with a fork so oversized air bubbles won’t form. Cover the dough with another sheet of parchment paper, place two additional sheet pans on top of it, and bake the pastry until golden brown. 

In the meantime, you can prepare the filling. Beat the cream cheese and butter with a stand mixer until thoroughly combined, then add the lemon zest, salt, pepper, and chives. After cutting the finished pastry into three sections, spread each one evenly with the filling and cover them with the salmon before stacking them to form layers. You’ll need to gently press the mille-feuille down and let it chill for one hour in the refrigerator to ensure it sticks together. It will be ready to serve once you cut the pastry into elegant diamond shapes. 

If you’d like hands-on experience making more show-stopping recipes, check out the courses at the Institute of Culinary Education. This renowned culinary school offers top career training programs—such as pastry and baking arts and plant-based culinary arts—at their Los Angeles and New York City locations. You can learn more about their educational offerings on their website.

Smoked Salmon Mille-Feuille

Yields: 15–18 pieces

Ingredients
1 package puff pastry dough
1 cup or 1 package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter, softened
1 tsp lemon zest
Salt and white pepper to taste
1/2 bunch or 2 tbsp chives, finely sliced
170 grams smoked salmon

1. Roll the pastry into a 12-by-18-inch rectangle. Slide onto a parchment paper-lined pan and refrigerate for about 1 hour, until firm and rested.
   
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
3. Dock the dough well using a fork and cover it with another piece of parchment paper and two sheet pans so it doesn’t rise too much when baking. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes, turning dough often and watching its progress. Remove the dough from the oven and cool between the pans to prevent warping.
   
4. While the dough is baking, prepare the filling. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth and light. Add in lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Stir in chives, leaving some out for the top.
   
5. Cut the baked pastry along the width to make three 4.5-by-10-inch pieces. Spread each
   piece with a third of the filling.
   
6. Arrange the salmon to cover each pastry, then stack to create three layers. Slide them onto a pan and press to adhere. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
   
7. Cut the mille-feuille into 1-inch strips, and then cut diagonally to make diamond shapes. Serve cool, but not chilled.

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