The smokiness of the mackerel and the sweetness of the parsnip blend helped by the acidity of the capers and olives blend to help the salmon resulting in a more rounded flavour combination than usual.
Ingredients (makes 8 small cakes)
- 250g fresh salmon, skin removed
- 100g smoked mackerel fillet, skin removed
- 1 parsnip
- 3 spring onions, finely sliced
- 2 tbsp capers
- 3 big green olives, pitted and sliced
- 4 tbsp panko crumbs
- ½ lemon, zest only
- 2 egg whites
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 egg
- Small bunch of dill, finely chopped
- Extra virgin olive oil for frying
Method
Preheat the oven to 1900C and line a flat baking tin with some baking paper.
Trim, peel and roughly chop the parsnip. Bring a pan with some salted water to the boil and cook the parsnip till soft, 20-25 minutes, drain and leave to cool.
Roughly chop the salmon and mackerel and place in a blender. Add the olives, spring onions, capers, dill, lemon zest, half the panko crumbs, egg whites and season with some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the cool parsnip pieces and pulse a few times to incorporate everything but keep some texture.
In a bowl, beat the whole egg and season it. Put the flour on a flat plate and the remaining panko crumbs on another.
Take some mix in your hands and make a patty. Dust with some flour, dip in the egg and cover with panko breadcrumbs.
Bring a large frying pan to a medium to high heat and add enough olive oil to about 1 cm up the sides of the pan. Heat to the point where a piece of bread dropped into the oil would sizzle and lower the fish cakes into the pan. Lower the heat slightly and brown on one side, then turn and brown on the other. With a spatula, transfer the fish cakes onto the baking tin and finish cooking in the oven for 5 minutes.
Serve with a spiralised courgette salad some chilli jam.