Smoked Salmon & Avocado Starter Recipe

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This smoked salmon and avocado dish makes the perfect starter. It’s great for special occasions such as a festive dinner table as it looks so unbelievably pretty! However, it really does take about 10 minutes to make so don’t be deceived by its looks!

Is it good for you?

This recipe not only looks and tastes great, but it’s pretty healthy too. Avocados are chock-full of healthy fats, while salmon has a ton of essential fatty acids which help lower your risk of a host of nasties. So any fats in this recipe are essentially the good kind.

If you’re following a low-carb/keto diet then this is also a great option. It contains only 6.3g of carbs and just 1.2g net carbs.

How can you style this dish?

This dish is most certainly one to impress when properly assembled. While it will taste fantastic thrown together on a plate, if you have guests or a special occasion then it’s worth going the extra mile. To be honest, if you feel like a bit of self-pampering then it only takes a few minutes to make this look great too so why not treat yourself!

Firstly, you’ll need a food presentation ring to assemble the stack. You can also use a food tin with the top and bottom remove. Or you could even use a thick cookie cutter.

Follow the instructions to stack the avocado and salmon. When you come to serve mix the rocket/arugula with a small splash of avocado and some cracked black pepper. Carefully and gently roll into a ball in your hands and place on top of the stack (it doesn’t need to be perfect!). Drizzle around the gremolata.

If you want to go the extra mile you can use a few microgreens scattered around the plate and on top of the stack. A mixture of green and purple sprouts looks great!

Can you make it in advance?

Great news – you can make this smoked salmon and avocado starter a few hours in advance and store it in the fridge. If you are planning to make this in advance then add additional lemon juice to the avocado as this helps slow down the oxidation – which is the process that makes the flesh start to turn brown.

You should also leave the addition of the rocket leaves until the last minute. If you dress them too early then this will cause them to start to wilt.

Ingredients

You’ll need a few key ingredients for this recipe. For the full list and measurements jump to the printable recipe card.

Of course, the most important are smoked salmon and avocado. Try and buy avocado that is ripe but still a little firm. Very-ripe avocado will work well, but will be a lot mushier in texture so may no look as clean in the stack.

For the salmon spring for a quality fish. Finding an option which is rich and vibrant in colour will also help to add to the overall visual impact of the dish.

The recipe also includes gremolata. While this may sound fancy i’s actually really simple – and great for dressing up loads of different dishes. You can make this a day or so in advance.

How to make it

While this recipe might look fancy, it is actually pretty easy to pull together.

Firstly, make the gremolata by mixing together the olive oil, lemon zest and parsley. When chopping the parsley the finer you cut the better it will look.

Dice the avocado and mix with the lemon juice gently (so you don’t end up mashing it up). Then mix the salmon with the mustard, finely chopped dill and sesame seeds and season well.

Next, place the food presentation ring on a plate and add the avocado to the bottom. Gently press down but not too much – you don’t want to squish it together! Gently layer the salmon on top. You don’t need to press this down as you want the salmon slices to add height to the stack. At this point, you can place the plates with the stacks in the fridge for a few hours until you are ready to serve.

When you are ready to serve, mix the rocket/arugula with a small splash of olive oil and some cracked black pepper. Gently ‘ball’ the leaves in your hands and place on top of the stack.

Drizzle the gremolata over the stack and around the plate and serve.

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