Salmon and Asparagus Terrine

This dish is one of the lightest, prettiest ways to get the Christmas meal off to a good start. An added bonus come busy Christmas Day is that it can be made ahead of time and chilled until ready to serve.

4 thick asparagus spears

400 g smoked salmon

¾ cup cream cheese or crème fraîche

⅔ cup thickened cream

pinch of cayenne pepper

freshly snipped chives, to garnish

baby salad greens, lemon wedges and toast, to serve

Remove the tough ends of the asparagus. Cook the asparagus in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water for 3 minutes. Drain, cool in iced water and drain again.

Finely chop half of the smoked salmon. Combine the cream cheese or crème fraîche, cream and cayenne pepper in a bowl until smooth. Fold through the chopped salmon.

Line an 8 × 26 cm bar cake tin with plastic wrap. Line the base and sides with the remaining salmon, extending the salmon over the sides (enough for it to cover the top). Spread half of the cream mixture into the prepared tin. Top with the asparagus, followed by the remaining cream mixture. Fold the extending salmon back over the cream to fully enclose. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Once fully chilled, cut into 8 thick slices to serve. An attractive way of serving this is to place each slice on a bed of baby salad greens or straight on a plate, top with snipped chives and serve with lemon wedges and toast.