Elly's lax pudding (potato & salmon bake)

1. Pat the salmon dry with kitchen paper. Put it in a tub, skin-side down. Mix the salt and sugar together, and sprinkle over the salmon. Cover and chill for 45-60 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat 30g of butter in a large frying pan and sauté the onion for 15 minutes over a low heat, until softened.  Season and set aside.

3. Remove the large parts of stalk from both bunches of dill. Reserve a few fronds for garnish and roughly chop the rest. Whisk the eggs with the cream, season well and set aside.

4. Butter a 20x25cm (approx 2-litre) baking dish generously all over the sides and base. Use a food processor to finely slice the potatoes 1-2mm thick (or use a knife). Rinse the marinated salmon well under cold water to wash off the salt and sugar mixture. Dry the salmon well with kitchen paper and lay skin-side down on a board. Use a very sharp knife, held at a slight angle, to slice off 2-5mm thick pieces, horizontally, working all over the fillet until you have cut all the salmon off the skin.

5. To assemble, lay half the potato over the base of the dish, overlapping the slices in a fish-scale formation. Scatter a quarter of the dill over the potato. Top with half the softened onion, then another quarter of the dill. Now, lay the slices of salmon all over the dish, covering the surface evenly until all the fish is used. Sprinkle with another quarter of the dill, the remaining onion, the last quarter of dill, then the remaining potato. Make the final slices of potato as neat as you can, in a fish-scale formation. Pour the egg mixture over the dish slowly, allowing it to get into all the gaps. Leave to sit for at least 20 minutes (or for up to 2 hours, covered, in the fridge). This allows everything to bond well during cooking.

6. When you’re ready to bake the dish, preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Dot the surface evenly with the remaining 40g butter and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden.  To serve, divide the pudding into portions and top each square with a curl of smoked salmon and a sprig of dill. Serve the hot melted butter in a jug alongside the lax pudding, for guests to pour over their own portions, and lemon wedges to squeeze over.