Sophie Hansen’s Puff Pastry Bites with Salmon Rilettes

These puff pastry bites are a delicious little crowd pleaser – serve them up with a glass of chilled sparkling on Christmas Day, or stash them in the fridge ready for your festive season visitors. I promise, whipping up a batch of these golden, delicious bites and popping a bottle of fizz will get any party going in the right direction! And while these bites are more than good enough on their own, why not gild the lily and serve them with a dollop of easy salmon rillettes?

*thank you to the amazing Sophie Hansen and Galah magazine for this recipe collaboration

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 6-8
Skill Level: easy

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Where to buy Carême Pastry

Ingredients

1 (375g packet) Carême All Butter Puff Pastry, defrosted
120g goat’s cheese, crumbled
About ⅓ cup sliced jalapeño pickles (or mild bread-and-butter pickles if you prefer, sliced)
About ⅓ cup pickled red onions
1 egg
2 tbsps cream
⅓ cup sesame seeds
1 lemon, quartered.
For the quick salmon rillettes
250g sour cream
250g hot smoked salmon (flaked)
Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
3 tbsps dill, finely chopped
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste.

Method

Roll the pastry onto a work surface and, using a ravioli cutter or sharp knife, cut into squares about 5 cm each. I’m a bit slapdash about this and do it by eye, but you could get a ruler out if you’d prefer to be more precise.
Onto every second square, place about half a tsp of the goat’s cheese and top with alternating pickles (jalapeños and onions). Press a “lid” of pastry on top and press the edges to make a seal all the way around. Continue until you have used all of the pastry squares. One sheet of pastry should make about 22 in total.
At this point you could freeze the squares until needed or chill for a few hours or overnight. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 200°C (fan forced) and line two baking trays with baking paper. Arrange your puff pastry bites on the trays.
Whisk the egg and cream together to make an egg wash and brush over each bite. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and a little sea salt.
Cook for 10-15 minutes or until golden and puffed. Don’t worry if some of the “lids” puff right off, just place back on top and gently press down. Cooking time will be longer if your bites are coming straight out of the freezer.
Leave to cool for a few minutes then spoon a good dollop of the salmon rillettes on top of each bite, arrange on a tray and serve with lemon wedges.

For the quick salmon rillettes