Mackerel and Beetroot Open Sandwich recipe

Norwich used to have a bakery on Timber Hill that sold the most gorgeous loaves and made them into toasties and tartines (open sandwiches) for lunch. One of the tartines had mackerel pâté with cream cheese, dill and capers. I hadn’t come across this combination before but I’m glad I did. It’s easy to recreate at home and makes a great weekend breakfast or lunch.

I’ve specified weights for the ingredients but if you use more mackerel or less cream cheese it doesn’t matter. The mackerel pâté will top 8 slices of bread from a small bakery style loaf. I keep leftovers in the fridge to eat later in the week as there are only two of us.

I use capers and dill if I have them but they aren’t ingredients that I always keep in my fridge. The topping at its most basic consists of cream cheese, mackerel and beetroot but other ingredients are welcome to join in. For the sandwich in the photograph I added chopped sun-dried tomatoes, rocket and parsley. If I have crème fraîche I’ll add a tablespoon to the pâté to lighten it but it's another ingredient that I don't always buy. Any kind of pre-cooked smoked mackerel (black pepper, honey or plain) will work well in the pâté.