Salmon Tartare in Celery Cups

I have made this salmon tartare as a starter many times, but decided when searching around for another make ahead canapé, to minimise this old favourite. A suitable container for the salmon was a bit of a problem, but I eventually hit upon the idea of making little cups out of celery, which I think works pretty well. Sadly there is quite a lot of wasted celery, but happily it does make a delicious soup, especially if you add some yummy blue cheese.

Ingredients - makes 30 canapés or 2 light starter portions

1 head of celery (canapé only)

100g very fresh salmon (excluding skin)

50g smoked salmon

0.5 shallot, finely chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp capers, rinsed and chopped

1 tbsp dill, chopped, plus extra sprigs to serve

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp creme fraiche

1 tsp olive oil

Method

Cut circles out of the celery. These can be stored in cold water in the fridge overnight. (I used KitchenCraft plain sided metal cutters, from kitchen shops or Amazon)

Soak the finely chopped shallot in the lemon juice while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Chop the smoked salmon and the skinned fresh salmon into small cubes (aim for a reasonably uniform size).

Mix the Dijon, creme fraiche and olive oil together.

Mix all the ingredients together, thoroughly.

Season with black pepper.

Put a teaspoonful neatly in each celery cup.

Store, covered, in the fridge for several hours. Garnish with a sprig of dill to serve.

As a starter for 2 people, leave out the celery and serve the tartare with crostini or melba toast (use gluten free bread for coeliacs)