Smoked Salmon Parcels with a basil emulsion

This very elegant looking dish is bound to elicit a satisfying number of ‘oohs’ at your dinner table and makes a great starter for Christmas day.
It’s easy to assemble and you can prepare a few hours ahead.

TIP Use the best smoked salmon you can afford, otherwise this dish will be as pointless as an orchestral version of ‘clair de lune’.

Serves 4

8 slices of smoked salmon ( Waitrose sells salmon in strips which is ideal)
For the salad
1 small shallot finely diced
4 cherry tomatoes finely diced
1 inch piece of cucumber deseeded and finely diced
Small handful of coriander leaves finely chopped
1\2 medium red chilli deseeded and finely diced
Juice of half a lime
1tbs extra virgin olive oil

For the emulsion

1 bunch of basil leaves
4 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs of pine nuts
2 tbs parmesan
Juice of half a lemon
8 tbs of water
1 pack of chives
4 shot glasses

Mix the salad ingredients together in a bowl and rest for five minutes.
Arrange 2 salmon strips, one on top of the other so they look like a plus sign.
Repeat three times.
Place a tsp of the salad in the middle of the strip and carefully fold the strips into a parcel shape. Tie each parcel with two chives. They can be kept in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
Blitz all the emulsion ingredients in a blender till smooth. Do not refrigerate, just leave it in the blender.
When ready to serve, place the parcels in the middle of a plate, pour a little emulsion into 4 shot glasses or dot the sauce round the parcels. Any leftover salad can be spooned on top of each parcel or saved as a garnish for just about anything.

Pair with a Don Aldo Olivier Pedro Ximenez Chardonnay from laithwaites.co.uk