Smoked salmon and watercress pâté
Made in a loaf tin, this pâté is easy to slice, so it looks very elegant on the plate. If you can’t find cocktail strips of smoked salmon, used sliced smoked salmon and patch it over in the tin.
Ingredients
- 100g/3½oz soft butter, plus extra for greasing and the salmon
- small bunch dill, chopped, plus 4 small sprigs
- 150²µ/5½´Ç³ú salmon fillet, skinned
- 350g/12oz smoked salmon cocktail slices
- 2 tsp hot horseradish sauce
- 180g/6¼oz full-fat cream cheese
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- small bunch watercress, roughly chopped, plus extra to serve
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
- brown bread, toasted
- lemon wedges
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease the inside of a 450g/1lb loaf tin with butter. Line with baking paper, leaving an overhang – this will help you remove the pâté. Lay 3 sprigs of dill in the centre of the base of the tin.
Lay a piece of foil on the worktop and spread with a knob of butter. Sit the salmon fillet on top, spread with a little more butter and season with salt and pepper. Sit the remaining sprig of dill on top, fold into a parcel and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until just cooked. Leave to cool completely in the foil.
Line the base and sides of the tin with strips of the smoked salmon, leaving an overhang the whole way round the tin. You should have about 60–70g/2¼–2½oz of the salmon left.
Put the remaining smoked salmon into a food processor or blender with the cold salmon fillet, horseradish, cream cheese, soft butter, lemon juice, a little salt and plenty of black pepper. Blend until smooth. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the pâté into a bowl and add the chopped watercress and dill and mix well. Set aside.
Spread half of the pâté from the blender into the base of the tin. Spread the watercress mix over the top, using the back of a spoon to push to the edges and corners in an even layer. Spread the remaining pâté on top and level the mixture. Flip the overhanging smoked salmon slices over the top and press down firmly. Chill in the fridge for at least 5 hours or until firm.
Serve in thick slices with the brown toast, lemon wedges and extra sprigs of watercress on the side.
Recipe Tips
Before slicing finished terrine, it helps to pop it in the freezer for half an hour.