A special spicy seafood sharing platter, perfect for a starter or part of a buffet and utterly delicious. This is a bulk recipe that can be scaled down to serve as many people as you need... as we all know at Christmas this can be quite a crowd!
Serves 20
INGREDIENTS
- 1 romaine lettuce
- 1 radicchio
- 1 iceberg lettuce
- 1 red chicory
- 2 ripe avocados
- olive oil
- 4 slices of bread
- 400 g cooked peeled prawns
- 100 g sweet brown shrimp
- 250 g smoked salmon
- 200 ml tomato passata
- 2 heaped tablespoons free-range mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 shakes of Tabasco sauce
- 1 pinch of celery salt
- 2 lemons
- 3 heaped tablespoons creamed horseradish
- 1 swig of whisky, brandy or vodka
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 bunch of fresh dill
- 2 punnets of cress
- 1 heart of celery
Unclick and trim the romaine, radicchio, iceberg and chicory and spread them face up over a great big board to make receptacles for all the seafood.
Put a griddle pan on a high heat.
Halve, de-stone and peel the avocados (or use a spoon to scoop out the flesh), then cut into quarters. Dress with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper, then add to the hot griddle pan for around 4 minutes, turning as you go.
Toast the bread in and around the avocado pieces, flipping when charred to make beautiful croutons.
Scatter the prawns and shrimps in and around the little cups – try and treat all the cups in roughly the same way if you can, then wind and drape over pieces of the smoked salmon.
Transfer the hot avocado to the board, clank it up and divide it between the cups.
Roughly dice the toasts into 1cm pieces, then sprinkle over the board.
Add the passata, mayo, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, celery salt, the juice from 1 lemon and the horseradish to a blender along with a splash of whisky, brandy or vodka.
Add a pinch of salt and pepper, followed by a lug of extra virgin olive oil, then whiz together. Have a taste, and adjust the seasoning, if needed.
Pour the dressing in and around the cups and finish with dill and some cress ripped over.
Remove the yellow celery leaves from the centre of the celery heart (saving the sticks for another day), slice up the root, then cut off the upper yellow celery leaves and sprinkle these all over too.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, dot the platter with wedges of lemon, and you’re done. Serve any extra sauce in a little bowl on the side.
Recipe and picture from Jamie Oliver