Impress your friends with this beautiful and delicious terrine, perfect as a starter or for a light lunch with a glass of wine. What’s more you can make it in advance so it’s hassle-free, just have it chilling in the fridge until you are ready. This is a Mary Berry recipe, she is one person I so admire and whose recipes I totally trust i.e. they always work!  I made this for a dinner party recently and it went down a treat. 

Serves 8

Ingredients

150g (5oz) salmon fillet
approx. 7 large asparagus spears
350g / 12oz smoked salmon slices
200g (7oz) full fat cream cheese
75g (3oz) softened butter
1 tablespoon chopped chives
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt & pepper

Method

Grease a 1lb loaf tin then line with a double layer of cling film*

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas 4

• Place the salmon fillet on a square of foil.
• Season the salmon and fold the foil over the top to make a parcel
• Cook in the oven for 12-15 minutes until the salmon is cooked i.e. the flesh is opaque pink
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
• Trim the woody ends of the asparagus to exactly the length of the tin
• Bring a frying pan of water to the boil and cook the asparagus spears for 3-4 minutes until they feel just tender when pierced with a knife, drain and plunge into ice-cold water to cool and prevent them from continuing to cook.
• Drain and pat dry.
• Trim a smoked salmon slice to fit the base of the tin then cut slices to fit all four sides, leaving a little to overhang, and reserve one slice for the top.
• Place the remaining smoked salmon in a food processor with the cold cooked salmon fillet, cream cheese, soft butter, chives and lemon juice
• Blend until smooth and season to taste.
• Spread half the smoked salmon mixture into the lined tin and top with the asparagus spears, laying them head to tail so that they fit tightly into the tin.
• Top with the remaining salmon mixture and lay the last piece of smoked salmon on top.
• Cover the terrine with clingfllm and leave to chill for at least 6 hours in the fridge, then remove the cling film, turn out and cut into slices.
• If you freeze the terrine for approx 30 minutes it will be easier to slice.

*in the photo above I used a miniature loaf tin as I had some ingredients left over, I put it in the freezer and when I wanted to use it I put it in the fridge overnight and it made a delicious supper.