Recipe by Jodie Smith

Smoked Salmon Tartlets with Lemon and Dill

By Jodie Smith, Product & Hamper Manager at The Gourmet Pantry.

Confiletas mini savoury round pastry cases, the shells used for these smoked salmon tartlets with lemon and dill

Smoked salmon tartlets are the least demanding canape on a party table. A crisp savoury pastry case, lemony cream cheese, a fold of cold-smoked salmon, a frond of dill. Nothing is baked and no pastry is rolled, so twelve of them come together in about 15 minutes and the oven stays free for something else.

Why the small case is the one that works

The mini savoury pastry cases we stock measure about 37mm across. That measurement does more work than it looks like it does. At 37mm a filled tartlet is one bite, so a guest can take it in one hand, eat it standing up and keep hold of their glass. Widen the case and it becomes a two-bite item, and a two-bite canape needs a napkin, a plate or a decision. Small is what keeps a room moving.

The shell matters as much as the size. The mini sweet case is a different biscuit, lightly sugared and built for curd and berries. The savoury one is neutral and short, so it takes salt, cream cheese and smoked fish without fighting them. Both sit in our Confiletas pastry cases range, and the savoury minis are one of the lines our customers reorder most through the entertaining months.

Ingredients

Makes 12 tartlets. Prep 15 minutes, no cooking. We stock the shelf-stable half of this recipe; the salmon, cream cheese, lemon and dill are a supermarket buy and none of them needs to be expensive.

Ingredients

For 12 tartlets
12	Confiletas Mini Savoury Round Pastry Cases, one pack
200g	cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp	crème fraîche, or thick sour cream
1	lemon, finely grated zest of the whole one plus 2 tsp of the juice
2 tbsp	dill, finely chopped, plus small sprigs to finish
1 tbsp	baby capers, drained and roughly chopped (optional)
2 tsp	Belazu preserved lemons, skin only, finely chopped, in place of half the fresh zest (optional)
180g	cold-smoked salmon, sliced
	freshly ground black pepper

Two packs of cases cover about 20 guests when the tartlets are one of several things on the table. Buy the cases early and the fresh half on the day.

Method

Take the cream cheese out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before you start. Cold cream cheese drags and cracks the shells when you fill them.
Beat the cream cheese, crème fraîche, lemon zest, lemon juice and half the dill together until smooth and just soft enough to pipe.
Season with black pepper and taste. Add the capers, or the chopped preserved lemon skin, if it wants more salt and sharpness. Go easy on salt, since the salmon brings plenty.
Spoon or pipe the filling into the pastry cases, about three-quarters full. A piping bag with a 10mm nozzle is quicker; a teaspoon and a steady hand does the job.
Cut the salmon into strips about 3cm wide. Ruffle each strip loosely and sit it on the filling so it stands slightly proud of the case.
Finish each tartlet with a small sprig of dill, a scrape of lemon zest and a grind of pepper. Serve within the hour.

Make ahead, and what else the shells will do

The filling keeps for two days in a covered container in the fridge and it improves overnight, once the lemon and dill have settled in. The shells are the part that will not wait. Keep them sealed in their pack until the day, because a humid kitchen softens them within hours of opening. If they have lost their snap, three minutes at 150°C on a dry tray brings it back. Cool them completely before filling.

Same filling, taller shell: the mini vol-au-vent shells hold about twice as much and suit a prawn or a poached chicken filling. To end the night rather than start it, the mini sweet cases take lemon curd and a raspberry, which is a tidier finish than cutting a cake; our dessert board guide has more on that. The whole Confiletas range is Spanish made and shelf stable, which is why it lives in the pantry and not the freezer.

Leftover filling is a good thing to have. Spread it on plain crackerthins with the last of the salmon, or loosen it with a spoonful of hot pasta water and stir it through linguine.

Common questions

How many canapes per person?

For drinks before dinner, plan on four to six pieces a head over an hour or so. If the canapes are the meal and people will be there for two or three hours, go to 10 to 12 a head, spread across five or six different items so nobody ends up eating six of the same thing. These tartlets count as one item, not as the whole spread.

Can you fill pastry cases the night before?

Better not. A filled case softens from the inside as moisture in the cream cheese moves into the pastry, and by morning the base is damp. Make the filling the day before, keep it covered in the fridge, and fill the cases within an hour of serving. If you have to fill early, a firmer mix with no added lemon juice will buy you a couple of hours.

Do pastry cases need to be baked before filling?

No. Confiletas cases arrive fully baked and ready to fill straight from the pack, which is the point of them. Three minutes at 150°C is optional, and only worth doing if the pack has been open a while and the shells feel soft. Let them cool completely first, or the filling will slump into a warm shell.

Buy the cases before the season starts: Confiletas pastry cases keep in the cupboard for months, and the rest of the festive entertaining range is worth a look while you are there. Shipping is free Australia-wide on orders over $100.

Products in this recipe

Shop the pantry to recreate this dish: browse gourmet food.