Smoked trout paté

Recipe

This is a crowd pleaser. Seafood luxury for Christmas or a rustic version for a picnic.

This became a party-staple dip in my family growing up. It only needs three ingredients to be delicious - the extra touches add more depth to it. For real Christmas luxury you could top with some salmon caviar – that would be amazing.

Substitute the smoked trout with hot smoked salmon (not a Gravlax style) any time too – either work beautifully.

Makes almost 2 cups to serve 6 – 8 as a nibble. GF.

Pictured: Smoked trout paté

2 fillets smoked trout – or a whole trout that you will remove the fillets from. Substitute with hot smoked salmon. Remove bones.

150ml Crème Fraîche/sour cream

Juice of ½ lemon – 1 lemon – try half first, add more if you like. You don’t want to overdo the lemon as it can overpower the delicate flavour of the trout

Lots of pepper – check if needs salt at the end as the smoked fish can be salty enough

Optional to blend (either or both) - 1 tbsp fresh dill/ 2 tsp minced horseradish or hot English mustard, to add some lovely kick to it.

Optional to serve – top with salmon caviar and/or fresh chives

I make this very quickly in a blender, especially if the fillets are already removed of bones - place all ingredients in a blender and begin with a few pulses – I like to keep some texture to the dip, so I blend it carefully scraping down the sides as I go. (Unless you prefer it super smooth).

Taste for lemon, seasoning etc before the final blend before it gets too smooth or use a fork for final mix. Once it has all mixed together, then stop.

If you do not have a blender, you can mash everything with a fork until it is well mixed as smooth as you like.

Spoon into a serving bowl, serve with favourite crackers or bread