Smoked Salmon Puffs

These delicate and stunning bites are a showstopper and fairly easy to make. They require a bit of skill and even more patience, but are easy to accomplish.

I prefer the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets because they’re more readily available and, given that they’re dairy free, they tend to rise more evenly, but feel free to use the fancy puff pastry sheets instead.

Ingredients:

1 box puff pastry sheets, thawed overnight in refrigerator and allowed to come nearing room temperature on the counter for about 30 minutes before use

Mascarpone (you can get a tub in any supermarket)

Chives

Dill

Beluga Caviar (these feature beluga, which is undoubtedly the best, but you can use a roe of any sort. Given the pink color of the salmon, however, I recommend a greenish or black roe for contrast)

1-2 packages of smoked salmon (plain works best, as the flavored varieties compete with the other ingredients)

Process:

This is where it gets a bit more complex, but trust me, anybody can do this. I have faith in you!

Prepare the puff pastry according to the above (which is also detailed on the box). Squish the seams together with your fingers and then gently roll out the puff pastry to make it uniform and seamless. If you have a ring set of cookie cutters (I have these, but there are a lot of available options), use the one that’s about 1.5” to cut your dough. Using the .5” cutter, press slightly and twist back and forth to cut a score into the dough. Make sure not to cut it all the way through, but use enough pressure to score the dough well.

Place dough on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and cover the cookie sheet with another cookie sheet, turned upside down to make a lid of sorts. This helps the dough rise evenly. Cook pastry following box instructions.

Whew! The hard part is over! Well, sort of. I did say this took patience, remember?

Once your pasty has cooled to room temperature, use a knife and your hands to dig out the center to form little cups. This is why we scored the dough! You can make the pastry cups the day before and store in an airtight container at room temperature until your event.

Next, prepare the filling. Rinse and pick through your chives and chop them finely. In a mixing bowl, use a spatula to fold the chives into the mascarpone. Your mascarpone should be chilled, so this will require a small bit of elbow grease. Once your filling is prepared, transfer it to a pastry bag or plastic bag with a corner cut off. Pipe your filling into the pastry cups.

Next, prepare your smoked salmon. Gently cut the salmon into small strips about 2” long and about 1” wide. Roll them as best you can and push them onto the filling of the pastry cups so that they are embedded enough to stand upright.

Now use a small spoon or butter knife tip to gently add the roe. I usually add the roe to the filling on one side of the salmon. The roe is sticky and should hold shape, but give it a little press with your fingers for good measure.

Finally, tear the dill off the stem starting at the tips and working your way to the main stem. You want little leaves, rather than individual linear segments, as depicted in the photo. Using tweezers or just a patient hand, place the dill on top and around the salmon.

Serve and delight your guests!

You can garnish your platter with the leftover dill.

Have questions about this recipe? Feel free to reach out to me.