Spring Bank holiday cooking Spring Kitchen

sharing lunch

Smoked salmon pâté with tear & share brioche buns

‘This pâté has all the creamy, rich flavour of a smoked salmon bagel with soft cheese and capers. Paired with golden, butter-laden tear-and-share brioche, this makes for a tasty and indulgent spring lunch.’ Esther Clark

SERVES 4-6 PREP 1 hr plus at least 3 hrs 20 mins proving, chilling and cooling COOK 30 mins MORE EFFORT

200g smoked salmon
200g full-fat soft cheese
½ tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp capers, drained small handful of dill, chopped, plus extra to serve
1 small lemon, zested and juiced olive oil, for drizzling

For the brioche buns

450g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
½ small bunch of chives, finely chopped
1 ½ tsp fine sea salt
30g caster sugar
7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
100ml whole milk
4 large eggs, at room temperature
190g unsalted butter, cut into cubes and softened, plus extra for the bowl

1 To make the buns, put the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the chives and salt on one side of the bowl, and the sugar and yeast to the other. Mix each side into the flour with your hands, then mix everything together using the dough hook. Tip the milk into a small pan and warm over a low heat until warm to the touch, but not hot. Slowly mix into the dry ingredients until combined. Lightly beat 3 of the eggs. With the motor on medium speed, slowly add the beaten egg and mix for 10 mins, then add the butter, one or two cubes at a time, until combined – this will take another 5-8 mins. Scrape the sides of the bowl down. The dough will be very soft at this stage.

2 Scrape the dough into a large bowl, cover with a clean tea towel, and leave to prove for 1 hr 30 mins-2 hrs until doubled in size. Once the dough has risen, chill for 1 hr.

Put the salmon, soft cheese and mustard in a food processor and pulse several times until the salmon is coarsely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and stir