20 Feb smoked mackerel on toast

Meanwhile, my trusty beetroot hummus slathered on toast and topped with smoked mackerel and fresh dill makes a great snack, any time of day.

smoked mackerel + beetroot hummus on toast (serves 2)

Prep time: 15 minutes 

Almost every meal shared with friends at my house begins with beetroot hummus, and mostly I make it with vaccuum-packed rather than fresh beets – but don’t tell my friends I said that.

ingredients

4 x vaccum packed beetroots

1 tablespoon of olive oil.

The juice of half a lemon

2 garlic cloves

Handful of finely chopped walnuts

Salt

Pepper

Sourdough or rye bread

150g of smoked mackerel

Fresh dill, to serve

1. Remove the beetroots from their packaging and discard the excess liquid. Mind you don’t stain your clothes.

2. Roughly chop the beetroots and place in your food processor. Add the olive oil and squeeze in the lemon juice before blitzing until smooth.

3. Finly grate the garlic cloves into the beetroot. Add the walnuts and a pinch of salt and pepper before blitzing once again until smooth and well combined. Give it a taste and add a bit more lemon juice or salt and pepper if you think it needs it.

4. Toast a few slices of your favourite bread (something tangy like sourdough and rye really works with the mackerel and beetroots).

5. Use your hands to flake the smoked mackerel so that you have small bite-sized pieces of the fish to scatter on your toast.

6. Slather the toast with the beetroot hummus before topping with the flaked pieces of mackerel and, finally, a sprig of fresh dill.

This week’s storecupboard essentials

Vaccuum packed beetroots –I think we were all a bit traumatised by the slices of pickled beetroot that used to adorn every salad buffet in the 80s. The vaccum-packed variety are way closer to the fresh variety. Obviously, fresh is best, but the vaccuum-packed kind work really well when whizzed up to make beetroot hummus.

This recipe first appeared in The Irish Independent on February 19th