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Smoked Salmon Tart with Poppy & Sesame Seeds

  • Yield: Makes one 9” tart. Serves 8. 1x

Ingredients

Scale

For the Puff Pastry Ring Base

  • ½  recipe Rough Puff Pastry
  • 1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp cold water
  • 20 g poppy and sesame seeds

For the Topping

  • 113 g or 4 oz brick cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 113 g or 4 oz chèvre, at room temperature
  • 30 ml or 2 tbsp milk
  • grated zest of ½ lemon
  • ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp dried or 2 tsp fresh dill, chopped
  • 1 medium tomato, thinly sliced and drained on paper towels
  • 227 g or 8 oz thinly sliced smoked salmon
  • ¼ c thinly sliced scallions or chives (about 4)
  • 15 g or 2 tbsp capers, drained

Instructions

Make the pastry base

  1. Choose your serving plate; mine was only 10” in diameter, so I wanted a ring about 9”. The dough will make a circle up to 12”. As such, I used 2/3 of the dough, and made small pastry shells with the remainder, including the pastry scraps.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough about ¼” thick, forming a circle 1” larger than your desired final product.
  3. Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Use a plate or other round object in your desired size to trim the dough to the desired size. Use a 3-4” cutter to cut a round from the centre of the circle.
  4. Brush the dough with egg wash and prick it all over with a fork. Sprinkle with sesame and poppy seeds. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  5. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400*F.
  6. Bake the dough until it’s golden brown (25-30 minutes). Cool completely.

Make the toppings

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the cream cheese, chèvre, milk, lemon zest and pepper until light and fluffy. Fold in the dill. Cover and refrigerate.
  2. Just before serving, transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large starred tip. Using a back and forth motion, pipe the mixture over the crust ring, covering it generously.
  3. Position the tomato slices on top of the cheese in an even layer. Arrange the smoked salmon on top of the tomatoes in ruffled swoops (not flat). Sprinkle with chives and capers. Garnish with fresh dill sprigs.

Notes

Adapted from The Book on Pie by Erin Jeanne McDowell.

  • Author: Helen Kain