Goat Cheese and Smoked Salmon Torta
"This is the smoked salmon we always enjoy when we go and visit Dimi's nona (godmother). It's wonderful - simple, beautiful and so tasty! Thank you, nona, for always making this for us and making us feel special. To give credit where it is due, Dina got the recipe from 'The Christmas Table' by Carolyn Miller."
- Ready In:
- 20mins
- Ingredients:
- 7
- Serves:
-
6-8
ingredients
- 1⁄4 cup pistachios
- 5 -6 ounces fresh mild white goat cheese, room temperature
- 5 -6 ounces neufchatel cheese, room temperature (I use low fat Philadelphia cream cheese)
- freshly ground white pepper
- 2 ounces smoked salmon, preferably scraps, minced (1/2 cup, packed)
-
Serve with
- crostini
- thin slices baguette
directions
- Place the pistachios in a small dry skillet and stir over medium heat until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Pour the pistachios into a colander and stir and shake them over the sink to cool them and to remove some of the skins. Chop the pistachios and set them aside.
- In a small bowl, blend together the two cheeses and a few grinds of white pepper until smooth. Line a deep 3 or 4-cup bowl or fluted mold with plastic wrap. Spoon one third of the cheese mixture inside and pack it down; level the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the minced salmon evenly over the cheese and press it down with the back of a tablespoon. Spoon another third of the cheese over the salmon, pack it down, and level the top with a spatula. Sprinkle all but 1 tablespoon of the pistachios evenly over the cheese and press it down with the back of a tablespoon. Spoon in the remaining cheese, pack it down, and level the top. Cover with the overlapping plastic wrap and chill for 2 or 3 hours.
- Uncover the top of the cheese, turn the bowl upside down, and unmold the cheese onto a large plate. Remove the plastic and sprinkle the reserved pistachios on top of the torta. Let the torta sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Circle the cheese with crostini and baguette slices and serve with 2 knives for cutting into wedges and spreading on the crostini and baguette slices.
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OK, here goes. I live in Athens, Greece. I moved out here many, many years ago from Ottawa, Canada - so I am blessed in having two wonderful heritages!
I suffer from compulsive obsessive behaviour with regard to food and my psychiatrist thought it would be a good idea to find a 'society' where many have the same problem and try to find a cure.
So far, I've copied a couple of thousand recipes from this site and my psychiatrist has thrown the towel in and refuses to answer the phone when I call.
What did I do wrong?
Got 3 kids that keep me on the go - 10 and under at this point (2008) - I may not get round to updating this for a few years, so you'll have to do your own maths.
I teach English full-time and Greek Cookery part-time. I would like to make the cooking part of it full-time and the English Grammar part of it part-time.
That's all for now.
