An ideal do-ahead spread for a lovely appetizer, very simple and quick to prepare. all you need to do is cook salmon, combine with cream cheese and season. Serve on fresh baguette or as a dip.
The recipe is very simple. All you need is to cook fresh salmon, crunch it with a fork to be able to combine it with cream cheese (Philadelphia or the French saint Môret) and a bit of lemon juice. I don’t use a food processor because it would be too smooth. In my opinion, it’s tastier when it’s coarsely crunched.
Season with salt and pepper and the spices of your taste: for example the French piment d’Espelette (Espelette pepper), cumin… And fresh herbs give a nice twist. I use chive, tell me in comment if you choose another fresh herb.
With this recipe, I want to show you that you can prepare a delicious and festive treat with few ingredients, no complicated techniques, and limited time. The kind of French home cooking I love.
Rillettes is a French term for paté used for long-cooked salted pork, rabbit, or goose that are shredded then mashed with fat to produce a paste for spreading on bread. Rillettes can also be done with fish and are much lighter.
Salmon rillettes with cream cheese and chives
Ingredients
Instructions
Cook fish
- Cook salmon for about 8-10 minutes, depending of the thickness of salmon. Either steam, wrap in aluminium foil and cook in the oven with a dash of lemon juice or fry in the pan with a bit of oil.
Prepare dip
- Coarsely crumble salmon with a fork.
- Finely chop the chives and add it.
- Add cream cheese and combine. Optionally if you want a very creamy texture, add more cream cheese (or a tablespoon of greek yoghurt).
- Season according to your taste with a dash of lemon juice, salt and pepper, and add the spices you like, for example Espelette pepper.
- Refrigerate before serving, on toast or as a dip to dig in.
Notes
Serve on bread slices (ideally fresh baguette) or as a dip.