Homemade Fish shaped Appetizer
Submitted by stelladias77
Fish-shaped salmon pastries: buttery shortcrust hand pies cut into fish, filled with smoked salmon, potato, and onion, then decorated with pastry scales and baked golden. A playful, savory party appetizer kids love.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
45 minCOOK
20 minREADY
70 minThese playful little appetizers turn shortcrust pastry into edible fish, fitting, since they’re stuffed with smoked salmon. They’re part hand pie, part craft, and a guaranteed hit at a kids’ party.
You make a simple rubbed-in shortcrust, cut it into fish shapes using a paper template, and sandwich a savory filling between two pastry fish, sealing the edges like a turnover.
The filling is smoked salmon crumbled with garlic, red onion, and mashed potato, which holds it together and mellows the salmon’s saltiness into something kids actually go for.
The fun is in the decorating: small rounds of leftover dough are layered on like scales, with a pastry eye and mouth, then brushed with egg wash for a glossy, golden finish.
Baked until crisp and golden, they look impressive but cleverly use up scraps and leftovers.
Kitchen Tips
- Keep the butter and dough cold and work fast so the pastry bakes up flaky, not tough.
- Seal the edges well with egg wash so the filling doesn’t leak out.
- Chill the assembled fish briefly before baking to help them hold their shape.
- Brush the whole surface with egg wash for an even, shiny golden crust.
Variations
- Swap smoked salmon for tuna, ham, or cheese for picky eaters.
- Add peas, corn, or grated cheese to the filling.
- Use the same method to make other fun shapes like stars or hearts.
Ingredients
Directions
Sift the flour. Place the flour and salt in a large bowl. Mix. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Next add approximately ½ of the egg yolk and the water. Mix well your hands. Try to work quickly. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 10 -15 minutes. Now take the chilled dough and roll out into a 12 inch square that is about ⅛ inch thick, using a rolling pin.
Draw a fish shape on a paper and cut it out.[fish 6 x 4 inch]Place the fish on the dough and cut it out with a sharp knife. Place it greased baking pan.(use butter or coking spray to grease the pan).
In a pan heat ½ table spoon olive oil over medium high heat, add garlic and mix until slightly softened. Next add onion, salmon, and prepared (or leftover) mashed potatoes. Mix until onion is softened and everything is heated through. Add pepper and salt. Mix well.
This recipe will have enough dough and filling to make 4 number of fish. Place your prepared filling in the pastry ‘Fish’. Brush the edges of the pastry with some egg wash then place additional pastry ‘Fish’ over the top and press down to seal.
After that, you can decorate the fish with eye, mouth and scales. I’ve done in the photo above.
You can use scraps of the dough and cut out small rounds and then layer them like a fish’s scales. Brush the egg on top of the pastry.
The scales mouth and eye were made out of pastry dough. You can do this with the extra scraps of dough if you want. Bake about 20 minutes at 200 cup degrees or until the crust is golden brown.
Serve and enjoy.
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