Smoked mackerel pâté
Smoked mackerel pâté is great to serve as a make-ahead starter, or serve it in jars for a picnic to be proud of. It's a no-cook starter that's unbelievably easy to whizz up and pretty cheap to boot.
Ingredients
- 2 whole smoked mackerel (or 4 fillets)
- 1 tsp freshly grated horseradish (or 2 tsp horseradish sauce)
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp crème fraîche
- ½ lemon, juice only
- 100g/3½oz unsalted butter, chopped
To serve
- spring onions, chopped
- sourdough bread, cut into slices
Method
Remove the skin from the fish – the odd small bone is fine as the mixture will be blended, but pick out any larger bones. Add the fish to a food processor.
Add the horseradish, mustard, black pepper, crème fraîche and lemon juice and blend to a paste. Add the butter and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt.
Transfer the pâté into a serving bowl, ramekins or small jars.
Garnish with spring onions. Serve with slices of sourdough bread, toasted if you prefer.
Recipe tips
Smoked mackerel is sold in fillets and should be boneless, but it's not unusual to find the odd bone lurking so do run your fingers over the fish to check. Don't worry about tiny pin bones as they will blend up with everything else.
You could use kippers instead of mackerel to make this pâté.
If you don't have a food processor you can mash all the ingredients together with a fork. The texture will be coarser and you'll need to be careful to remove any bones.
Smoked mackerel pâté can be made up to 2 days in advance. Keep covered in the fridge.
