I am emptying my freezer, and I found a piece of salmon that I need to use away. Salmon bake or lohilaatikko, as we call this simple dish, is everyday food in Finland. Easy and fast to make. You can make it bake-ready already the previous day, and when you come home, just shove it in the oven. Lohilaatikko was always one of the foods on menu after Christmas. The perfect way to get rid of leftover cold smoked salmon or lox.

This is usually made with cream, but to lighten it up a bit, I replace half of the cream with fish stock. Gives more taste too to the bake. If you are using cold smoked salmon or lox, adjust salt accordingly. They both are pretty salty already. Use always starchy potatoes. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 500 g salmon
• 500g leek
• 1 kg floury potatoes
• Handful of dill (frozen,fresh or dry)
• ½ liter cream
• ½ liter fish broth
• Salt
• Black pepper

Instructions:

1. Dice the salmon. Peel and slice the potatoes and chop the leek into rings.
2. Grease a baking dish and layer the potatoes, leeks, and salmon.
3. Mix cream and fish stock. Season with salt, black pepper, and dill (if you use fresh dill, chop it very fine before mixing.) Pour the mixture over the vegetables and salmon in the dish.
4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Once the surface has slightly browned, reduce the temperature to 150 degrees Celsius for about an hour or until the potatoes are cooked.
5. Remove from the oven and let it rest 15 minutes before serving.