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Potted shrimp with sweet pickled fennel and Melba toasts
Makes 6
Ingredients
- 250g salted butter, cut into cubes
- 225g cooked, peeled brown shrimp
- 1tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4tsp ground mace
- 1/4tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1tbsp chopped dill
For the sweet pickled fennel
- 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and long tops removed
- 30g butter
- 1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4tbsp caster sugar
- 4tbsp Prosecco wine vinegar
For the Melba toasts
- 6 pieces ready sliced white or sourdough bread
Method
Start 1 day before serving.
The day before, to clarify the butter, melt it in a pan over a low heat, without stirring, for around 7 minutes or until the solids separate from the fat. Take off the heat and allow to stand for a few minutes. Slowly pour off the clear yellow liquid into a bowl, discarding the milk solids that have settled.
Stir the shrimp, nutmeg, mace, pepper and dill into the clarified butter and mix well. Spoon the shrimp into 6 individual ramekins, small glasses or jars, allowing the excess butter to remain in the bowl, then pour the leftover butter over the shrimp to cover. Transfer to the fridge to set overnight.
Meanwhile, to make the sweet pickled fennel, slice the bulbs into quarters and remove the core. Put the butter and oil in a frying pan with a lid and melt over a medium heat. Add the fennel quarters, cut-side down, in a single layer and fry for around 6 minutes, turning a few times, until golden and softening. Carefully add approx. 100ml water and put the lid on. Cook gently until tender and the liquid has evaporated. Turn off the heat and leave for a few minutes.
Transfer the fennel to a board and thinly slice lengthways, then cut the pieces in half. Put back in the pan and stir in the sugar, vinegar and a large pinch of sea salt flakes. Cook the fennel with the lid on over a medium to high heat for around 10 minutes until caramelised. Make sure to keep stirring, especially for the last minutes, to prevent burning. Transfer to a bowl to cool, then cover and put in the fridge overnight.
Next, make the Melba toast. Preheat the oven to 210C/ 190C F/Gas 6. Toast the bread on both sides, then cut off the crusts and cut out a square. Cut in half horizontally and cut each
half into 2 triangles.
Put on an oven tray and bake for around 4 minutes, turning the tray once. When they are curled and just golden remove to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight tin overnight.
The next day, serve the potted shrimp with the pickled fennel and Melba toasts.
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