Anne Morgan There is no cooking in Delia Smith’s smoked salmon pâté recipe, a rich starter for 8 people. You cut the smoked salmon into tiny pieces, then mash it with soft butter, lemon juice and nutmeg. The pâté takes about 20 minutes to make, and then it needs an hour or two in the fridge.
This pâté is built from Delia’s Smoked Fish Pâté, in her Complete Cookery Course. Her recipe mixes smoked trout, mackerel, eel and salmon, and she writes that any combination of smoked fish can be used.
Here the fish is all smoked salmon. The butter, the lemon, the nutmeg and the cayenne are her amounts. But the 450g of smoked salmon is my own sum, because it replaces the four fish in her list.
Her pâté comes from the restaurant where she first learned to cook, and it was always a starter there. For a lighter starter, her mousse page also covers a smoked salmon terrine.
Delia Smith’s Smoked Salmon Pâté
Course: StarterCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy8
servings20
minutes310
kcalA soft butter pâté seasoned with lemon, nutmeg and cayenne. It is packed into a dish and chilled lightly before serving.
Ingredients
- For the pâté:
450g (1lb) smoked salmon, small cheaper scraps are fine
1 heaped teaspoon very finely chopped raw onion (optional)
225g (8oz) butter, at room temperature
juice of 1 small lemon
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and cayenne pepper
- To garnish:
watercress and lemon quarters
Directions
- Chop: Chop the smoked salmon very finely, into tiny pieces, the way you would chop parsley. Put it in a large mixing bowl.
- Mash: Mash the salmon thoroughly with a large fork, until you have a fairly smooth paste.
- Onion: Stir in the chopped raw onion, if you are using it.
- Butter: Add the butter and the lemon juice. Then mash and blend everything together with the fork.
- Season: Grate in about a quarter of a whole nutmeg. Taste the pâté, then add as much salt and cayenne pepper as it needs. It may want a little more lemon juice too.
- Chill: Pack the pâté into a dish or terrine. Cover it well and chill it for an hour or two.
- Serve: Serve it with watercress and lemon quarters.
Notes
- Smoked salmon is salty, so taste the pâté before you add any salt, my own tip.
- The butter must be soft, or it will not blend with a fork. Take it out of the fridge well before you start.
- This pâté is not cooked. The NHS advises pregnant women, and people with a weak immune system, to avoid cold-smoked fish and pâté.
FAQs
What is in Delia’s Smoked Fish Pâté as she prints it?
Four smoked fish. Her list is 1 medium smoked trout, 1 medium smoked mackerel, 110g of smoked eel and 110g of smoked salmon, for 8 to 10 people.
Skin the trout and the mackerel and take the flesh off the bones, which she says is easier than it sounds. Then mash them with the eel and the finely chopped salmon, and carry on from step 3 of the card.
Does Delia have a low-fat smoked salmon pâté?
Yes, a spread on her website called Smoked Salmon Pink ‘Uns. She named it after the pink Saturday football papers, and it serves 5.
Keep back 1 rounded tablespoon from 250g of quark. Whizz the rest in a food processor with 125g of smoked salmon, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and an eighth of a teaspoon of cayenne. Stop at a rough purée, then season it.
Split 5 bagels and toast the outer sides. Then spread the cut sides with the reserved quark, sprinkle on 2 rounded teaspoons of sesame seeds and toast them until golden. Pile the spread on top and finish with mustard and cress.
How long does the pâté keep in the fridge?
About 2 days, my own view. Make it the day before if that helps, and cover the dish well.
Her pâté is only lightly chilled when it is served. A colder pâté is too firm to spread, so take it out 30 minutes before the meal, my own tip.
What do I serve with it?
Crisp baked croûtons, if you follow the restaurant where she learned to cook. Its chef, Leo Evans, served the pâté in deep scallop shells, with the croûtons beside the watercress and lemon.
Hot wholemeal toast is my own choice at home, because it is quicker than croûtons. The same toast goes with her scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for one.
How do I make half the amount?
Use 225g of smoked salmon, 110g of butter and the juice of half a small lemon, by my own sums. That makes a starter for 4 or 5 people.
A 450g pack of trimmings then leaves you 225g of salmon. That is the amount her salmon pasta needs.
