On the longest day of the year, Swedish people celebrate Midsommar. The party goes on all night (because there’s ‘daylight’ all night long!) and is accompanied by dancing and lots of local delicacies. IKEA celebrates Midsommar with its customers and coworkers, and I’ve created this recipe in the spirit of Midsommar. During the feast, they traditionally eat things like potatoes with dill, smoked salmon, hard boiled eggs, cheese… This recipe is based on those ingredients, but with a twist – I’ve combined them in a tian, a traditional French layered oven dish (I discovered the tian through Elizabeth David, you could say her versions are comparable to quiche, without the crust and the cream). Very easy to make with whatever leftovers you have in the fridge/garden and pop into the oven!
Ingredients for four people:
500 grams potatoes
olive oil
five (organic) eggs
a bushel of fresh dill
a handful of leaves of spinach/chard/…
4 stalks of scallion
200 grams of (IKEA) smoked salmon (I used 100 gr lax gravad and 100 gr lax najad, they’re already flavoured with Swedish marinade)
40 grams of grated cheese (e.g. IKEA ost)
pepper and salt
How to:
Peel and cook the potatoes in salted water until tender but definitely not overcooked, as they go into the oven later. In the meantime, heat the oven to 180 degrees. Drain the potatoes and cut into cubes. Put the potatoes in an oven dish with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. While waiting, you can place them into the oven that’s heating up.
Beat the eggs in a bowl. Chop the dill, spinach and scallion and cut the salmon into strips. Mix with the cheese into the beaten eggs. Add pepper and salt to taste (be careful with the salt, most smoked salmon is quite salty by itself)
Add this mixture to the potatoes and carefully scoop it around with a spoon. Put the dish in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until the eggs are no longer liquid. Serve with bread and some fresh salad!
