Smoked Mackerel Paté

Smoked Mackerel Paté is incredibly easy but so good.

Fillets of smoked mackerel are whizzed together with butter and a few simple seasonings, then topped with a horseradish-flavoured butter.

Simplify the recipe further by leaving off the topping if you like. But, as the whole thing only takes around ten minutes, it’s worth that extra step.

Fabulous as a starter or for lunch, on toast or crackers, accompanied by lightly pickled vegetables.

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I’ve been making a version of this ridiculously easy Smoked Mackerel Paté for such a long time, I can’t quite remember where I first saw the recipe that inspired it.

Most often, I make a very simple version which is just a couple of smoked mackerel fillets whizzed in the food processor with lemon, spring onion, melted butter and a bit of seasoning. This is perfect for a quick lunch at home, whether you spread it on toast or crackers or eat with a few chopped veggies to dip in.

But, for our starter on Christmas Day this year, I decided to make the fancier version with a layer of horseradish flavoured butter on top.

Well, I say ‘fancy’, but the extra work required is about five minutes. Meaning the whole thing is done and dusted in an amazing ten or so minutes.

All you do is melt more butter, add some horseradish sauce from a jar, plus chives (or parsley if you prefer) and fresh black pepper. This is poured over the paté and the whole thing is put in the fridge to set.

Because the paté firms up as the butter sets, I also add a splash of cream with helps to keep it a little softer. But feel free to leave that out.

Serving Smoked Mackerel Paté

One of the reasons I love to have Smoked Mackerel Paté as a starter at Christmas is that it can be made in advance. This lightens the load on the big day itself, meaning the cook(s) can enjoy the festivities too.

Also, because it’s so easy, you can give a little more thought and effort to what you want to serve the paté with. And, because it’s delectably soft, I think that means something contrastingly crunchy.

I made a light rye bread to accompany the paté, gently toasting it so that it was crispy without being hard. We ate the rest of the paté the following day with crunchy homemade Sourdough Crackers.

Patés such as this also benefit from being served with pickles, I think. Besides their all-important texture, I like the way the acidity cuts through the richness.

Knowing that we’d be having Smoked Mackerel Paté with pickles on Christmas Day I was very pleased, a couple of weeks before, to get some pretty pink chioggia beetroot in my Moorland Veg Box.

I cooked the beetroots, sliced them, then placed in a jar with a light pickling liquor flavoured with fennel seeds and black peppercorns.

I saved the extra liquor so that on Christmas Day I could marinate cucumber strips for just a few hours to pickle them very lightly.

But whether you’re serving Smoked Mackerel Paté on a special occasion, as a quick snack or lunch, on bread or crackers, I think you’ll love it.

To make preparation even quicker, you could leave off the horseradish butter topping. But as it only adds a few minutes work, it’s well worth it.

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Smoked Mackerel Paté

You could simplify this easy paté by leaving off the horseradish flavoured butter topping, but the whole thing is made in around 10 minutes anyway.

Course Appetizer, Fish, Starter

Cuisine British, World

Keyword quick, easy, seafood

Prep Time 8 minutes

Cook Time 2 minutes

Chilling time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

For the paté

• 250 g smoked mackerel skinned and boned
• 1 lemon, zest only
• 2 spring onions finely chopped
• 1 tbsp single or double cream
• freshly ground black pepper
• 40 g butter melted
• salt optional

For the topping

• 50 g butter
• 2 heaped tsp horseradish sauce from a jar
• 1 tbsp chives finely chopped
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Paté

1. Put the smoked mackerel, lemon zest, spring onions and cream into the bowl of a food processor.

   Add a good grind of black pepper and tip in the melted butter.

   Whizz until smooth. Taste and add more pepper plus some salt if you think it needs it.

   Tip into a bowl or individual ramekins then smooth and level the top.

Topping

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan then take off the heat.

   Stir in the horseradish and chives then grind in some black pepper.

   Pour the flavoured butter over the paté then put the dish or ramekins in s the fridge until the topping is set.

Serving

1. Serve spread on bread such as thinly cut toasted rye bread or with crackers with a selection of pickles such as gherkin, cucumber, beetroot.

   Use within 3 days.