Carb-free smoked salmon, avocado and riccotta parcel

Smoked salmon parcel with crunchy salad and rosemary sweet potato wedges

Written by on in Dinner

This dish was inspired by the gorgeous Mary Berry, my food, style and general deportment icon. What a gal! I saw her making the parcel recently on TV and thought I’d try having a go.

I’ve used slightly different ingredients – Mary’s recipe calls for smoked trout instead of salmon but I tried 3 supermarkets and couldn’t find this so I finally settled for salmon instead but either fish would work. Also, her filling contained mayonnaise and cream cheese, while I’ve gone with ricotta instead.

Served with a salad and a few sweet potato wedges, the chilled salmon and filling make the perfect summer supper on a warm evening. If it’s a particularly hot day these are delicious if chilled for a little longer than the 15-20 mins in the method below.

Remember to weigh the sweet potatoes to accurately carb count or you can ditch the wedges for an entirely carb-free option.

The parcels can be made ahead and kept chilled for around 24-hours – just make sure to add a bit more lemon juice if you’re doing this to keep the avocado from turning brown.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

  • 1/2 packet of smoked salmon
  • 1 avocado (needs to be soft and perfectly ripe)
  • 5 cherry tomatoes, washed and diced
  • 1 tablespoon of ricotta cheese
  • 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
  • Handful of chives, finely chopped or snipped
  • Black pepper
  • Squeeze of lemon
  • 2 small sweet potatoes
  • Dried rosemary
  • Olive oil
  • 1 stick of celery
  • 4 radishes
  • Cucumber for 2
  • Peppery salad leaves such as watercress, rocket and a bit of spinach
  • Salad dressing

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 /180 (fan oven) /Gas mark 6. Cut the sweet potatoes into similarly sized wedges, toss them in a little olive oil, sprinkle over a little dried rosemary (or fresh if you have it!) and pop in the oven for around 30 minutes or until they are roasted and crisp.
  2. Meanwhile, cut the avocado in half, score around the edge and scoop each half out onto a chopping board and lay flat side down. Dice it by chopping into small pieces – keep going until it becomes squishy and paste-like.
  3. Add the avocado to a bowl and mix in the ricotta, Dijon mustard, cherry tomatoes and chives. Combine together into a chunky paste.
  4. Line two ramekins with cling film. Make sure there is plenty overlapping the sides.
  5. Take sheets of smoked salmon and line the ramekins with these, again, making sure there is plenty overlapping the edge of the container as you’ll be using these bits to seal the parcel later.
  6. Once the ramekins are lined, fill with the avocado and ricotta mixture. Pack them quite full, using all the mixture (see my Instagram page for a shot of these).
  7. Take the edges of the smoked salmon and lay them over the top of the exposed paste so it is completely sealed. Then wrap the whole salmon parcel in the remaining cling film so it is completely covered and press down lightly on the top. Pop them in the fridge to chill for about 15-20 minutes, or longer if you have time.
  8. While the salmon parcels are chilling prepare the salad: wash and dice the radishes, celery and cucumber. Add to a bowl with salad leaves and pour over a little salad dressing.
  9. Once the parcels are sufficiently chilled, unwrap the cling film from the top, place them upside down on a plate and remove the ramekin, then the rest of the cling film.
  10. Toss the salad and serve with the parcels and the sweet potato wedges.

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