Chef Neil Perry continues to be a culinary genius. He can even serve up great airline food, which is no mean feat as this culinary genre is one that often doesn’t present well. The entree I ate on the flight over to Australia was a delicious dish of crab rillettes with rocket and toast. I was inspired to do my own version.
As crab is a bit hard for most people to find, I have used smoked fish and prawns. This is a great starter that can be made in advance or can be used simply on toast to go with drinks.
Ingredients
| 150 g | Raw prawns (Main) |
| 250 g | Smoked fish, skinned and boned, broken up into small pieces (Main) |
| 1 | Lemon, zest only |
| 1 clove | Garlic, finely chopped |
| ¼ tsp | Ground mace |
| ½ tsp | White pepper, freshly ground |
| 2 Tbsp | Curly parsley, chopped |
| 125 g | Butter, softened but not melted |
| 2 handfuls | Rocket leaves |
| 1 Tbsp | Lemon juice |
| 2 Tbsp | Extra virgin olive oil |
| 2 Tbsp | Capers |
| 1 | Lemon, cut into wedges |
| 4 servings | Ciabatta bread, sliced and toasted (Main) |
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Directions
- Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the prawns. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes or until the prawns are just cooked through. Remove from the heat, drain well and cool completely.
- Slice the prawns thinly and place in a mixing bowl with the smoked fish, zest, garlic, mace, pepper, parsley and butter. Use a fork and mash the mixture well so there are no lumps of butter and you have a thick pate. This may take a little time but just keep at it until it is well mashed. Taste, season with salt and mix again.
- Put the rocket, lemon juice and oil into a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
- Serve the rillettes sprinkled with capers, with a little of the rocket, a couple of slices of a toast and a lemon wedge on the side.
