Nigel Slater's Recipes for Easy Salmon Pie and Baked Currants

There was a deliciously summery dinner on the table this week. A salmon pie, the crispy dough, the soft and creamy filling – a mixture of spinach, salmon and fresh cream. The pie was followed by a dessert of honey-sweetened currants and crispy meringues with marshmallow-like centers. It was the first evening meal in the garden this year, and it was memorable both for its seasonality and its ease.

I really like a fish pie , topped with a thick layer of buttery mash, a coulibiac too, with the fish wrapped in a pastry crust, but a version topped with potatoes seems heavy and out of season to me and I don't always have time for a such marathon cuisine (cook the fish, make the sauce, peel the potatoes, make the mash… you get my drift). So this time, a light, summery pie made with wafers of filo pastry to contrast the creamy pink and green filling, all done in the time of peeling and mashing the potatoes of a traditional pie. .

There are few things I love more than the first gooseberry crumble of summer. The coarse sweet rubble on top of the pie, the refreshing berries below. But I also like them cooked under the broiler, so they grill here and there. They need a touch of sweet juice - this time I cooked them in elderberry cordial and honey, then poured the berries and their juice over individual meringues: a kind of pavlova without the whipped cream.

Salmon and Spinach Pie< p class="dcr-8zipgp">Although I love fish pies, they can be quite tricky to put together. This one is simple, with a nice crispness to the crust to contrast the soft, creamy filling. When cooking leeks, I like to soften them over low heat, with a sheet of parchment paper on top and a lid. The result is leeks that steam in their own sweet juices, without browning. For 4 people

salmon 400gleek 1, coarse butter 40gpeas 250g pod weight, fresh or frozencream 250gparsley 3 tbsp, dill 3 tbsp, choppedlemon 1, finely chopped grated spinach zest 400g4 sheet puff pastrymelted butter 50g

Put the oven at 200C/thermostat 6. Line a baking dish or roasting pan with aluminum foil, place the pieces of salmon on top, season lightly, drizzle with a little olive oil, then bake for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly cooked.

Cut the leek, discard the root and the tops of the leaves. Cut into 1cm thick pieces, then wash thoroughly in cold water and shake to dry.

Melt the butter in a deep saucepan, add the leek, cover with a circle of parchment paper, cover with a lid, then cook over low to medium heat until tender but not browned.

Add the peas with leeks and cook for 2 minutes, then stir in the crème fraîche and season with salt and black pepper. Stir in the herbs and lemon zest.

Wash the spinach and place, still moist, in a medium saucepan over high heat, cover with a lid and cook on low. steam for a few minutes. Flip the leaves over, cover, and steam again for a minute or two until the leaves have relaxed. Remove from heat, drain, then squeeze almost dry and coarsely chop. Stir in leeks and peas.

Cut salmon into large, juicy flakes and add to leeks. Stir without crushing the fish.

Place a piece of filo pastry on the bottom of a rectangular metal baking dish, approximately 30cm x 20cm, then brush with melted butter, place a second on top, then brush with more butter. Transfer the salmon filling to the top of the dough, then 2 more pieces of dough and the melted butter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Meringues with roasted currants and lemon zest