Smoked Mackerel in Lemon Cups

I love the preserved lemons that are used in many Middle Eastern dishes. These lemons, preserved in salt, are intensely flavoured and add a delicious depth to food. They are great added to salad dishes or couscous or cooked with chicken.

The lemons, cut in half or quarters, make a delicious mouth watering container for a spoonful of smooth mackerel pate. It’s a delicious combination. See what you think. It’s easy, quick and make ahead. It can be simplified even further if you use bought mackerel pate.

Ingredients

Preserved lemons (I use Belazu from Waitrose)

Pea shoots

Mackerel Pate – bought or home made:

300 gms smoked mackerel fillets

250 mls creme fraiche

juice of half a lemon

1 tsp hot horseradish sauce

Black pepper

Method

Choose even sized lemons and cut them in half if they are small or into quarters if they are larger. Neatly scrape out the flesh. This can be done several hours ahead.

To make the pate, put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Store for up to 3 days in the fridge.

When required, the lemon cups can be carefully filled with the pate and stored in the fridge for 2 or 3 hours. Bring out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving and garnish with pea shoots.

I grew these pea shoots in less than 2 weeks. They had a couple more days of growing before I cut them... and I am not a gardener, so they are definitely very, very easy and not floppy like the bagged ones are sometimes.

Any spare pate is delicious served with hot toast fingers as a simple starter or light lunch.