Home at 7, dinner at 8 - Pea and Salmon Fishcakes

Pea and Salmon Fishcakes

The main time-consuming element when making fishcakes is the mash, so I wondered if there was an alternative ingredient that I could use to bind the fish together. Peas are perfect.

Preparation 25; Cooking 15; Serves 4

Fishcakes
200g frozen peas (petits pois are best)
200g smoked salmon trimmings
500g salmon, skinned, pin-boned and cut into 1cm pieces
zest of 2 lemons and juice of 1 lemon
a small bunch of dill, roughly chopped
1 egg
3 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
1 tablespoon plain flour
Salt and pepper

For the coating:
100g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
150g fine breadcrumbs or polenta
4 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce
220ml crème fraîche
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
400g wilted spinach (optional)

1 Put a pan of water on to boil and add salt. Once boiling, blanch the peas for 20 seconds before draining and running under cold water. Put them into a blender with all the remaining ingredients for the fishcakes, except for the seasoning, and pulse until the mixture has combined. Season with plenty of salt and pepper.

2 Put the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs or polenta into three separate bowls. Make eight patties out of the fishcake mix and pass first though the flour, then the egg and the breadcrumbs. Leave in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.

3 When you are ready to eat, preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Pour the olive oil into a frying pan and turn the heat to medium. Lay the fishcakes in the pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes until they are brown on both sides. Remove the partly cooked fishcakes from the pan and finish cooking in the oven for 6-8 minutes.

4 While they are in the oven, heat up the crème fraîche in a saucepan together with the lemon zest and juice and the wholegrain mustard. Remove the cooked fishcakes from the oven and serve with the crème fraîche sauce and spinach. Pierce the spinach a few times and cook in a microwave on high for three minutes.

Recipe from Home at 7, Dinner at 8 by Sophie Wright (Kyle Cathie, £14.99)