The Sausage Dog

I made these smoked salmon pinwheel rolls as an appetizer for Christmas. They were super cute, really refreshing and so easy to make!

I wouldn’t be too concerned about the portions here, just buy the ingredients and apply as you would like. If you like capers, pack them in, if you like a cream cheese heavy roll, add more cream cheese.

If you like, you could even add some lemon zest and a tablespoon of lemon juice into the cream cheese filling.

If you are feeling fancy, add some dill fronds as a garnish. If you really have some cash to blow, look for some caviar to top it off. The cheaper option to caviar is salmon eggs, which look really vibrant. You could also use carrots instead of cucumber, although that is whole lot of orange in this dish.

I used a sushi rolling technique to form my pinwheels – not that I have ever rolled sushi, mind you. But I do have an obsession with sushi-related Youtube videos, so I remembered all that I had seen and tried to mimic the movements with my mother-in-law’s sushi mat and cling wrap. Surprisingly easy as long as you are fearless and determined. The trick really is to do a decisive tuck in as you roll away from yourself (if that makes any sense at all).

At the end of the day, I felt that maybe I had cut the pinwheels too thick. I would suggest no more than an inch tall. It will be a nice bite-sized morsel for a classy event, or even a not-so-classy event that you want to inject some class into. Also super stress-free because you can make it the day before and forget about it till it’s time to eat.

Serves: 10 -12 people

Prep time: 30 minutes

Setting time: one hour, or overnight

Ingredients:

260g smoked salmon slices

125g Philadelphia spreadable cream cheese

1 lebanese cucumber

80g baby capers, drained and chopped finely

Instructions:

1. Prepare the cucumber by halving, then scoop out the seeds. Cut into thirds, then into matchsticks.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix cream cheese and baby capers together till well combined and to a spreadable consistency.
3. Lay a sushi rolling mat on the bottom and then a large piece of plastic wrap on a work surface.
4. Arrange the slices of salmon in an overlapping fashion to create a rectangle about 6 inches wide by 12 inches long, with one of the longest sides facing you.
5. Gently spread the cream cheese over the salmon trying not to dislodge any of the pieces. Lay the cucumber along one side of the rectangle about 1/2 inch from the edge.
6. Using the sushi rolling mat and the plastic wrap to guide you, roll the salmon up tightly around the cucumber sticks. Refrigerate until firm at least an hour, but preferably overnight.
7. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into 16 1/2-inch thick slices.