Seven delicious recipes to make Irish seafood part of your Christmas feast

Aishling Moore’s modern seafood recipes for a spectacular celebration

Oyster Rockefeller is among Aishling Moore's festive fish dishes. Picture: Chani Anderson

From luxurious snacks and starters to a comforting fish pie that’s perfect for Twixmas hosting, here are seven delicious ways to make Irish seafood part of your festive feast.

Sage & Anchovy Puff Pastry Straws

recipe by:Aishling Moore

These are perfect for grazing and keeping people out of your kitchen when you’re trying to figure out the logistics of how to feed them all hot food at once.

Servings

16

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 18 mins

Total Time

 28 mins

Course

 Starter

Ingredients

• 1 x 320g sheet puff pastry

• 1 small tin anchovies (or 16 anchovies)

• 1 small bunch of sage

• 1 clementine, zested

• 1 egg

• ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2. On a lightly floured cold surface, lay out the puff pastry. Make a small incision halfway along the length of the pastry and fold over to crease the sheet in half.

3. Use a sharp knife to cut the sheet of pastry in half along the crease. Set one half of the pastry aside. This will be used to sandwich the anchovy filling.

4. Lightly brush the whole surface area of one half of the pastry with egg wash.

5. Lay the anchovies across the pastry horizontally in rows, spacing them out to cover the whole sheet of pastry and to make sure eat bite has a little anchovy.

6. Space the sage leaves with stalks removed across the pastry, also laying them in rows. Press down to ensure they stick to the egg-washed pastry.

7. Zest the clementine to cover the whole sheet with a little Christmas citrus.

8. Use freshly cracked pepper to season the sheet generously.

9. Place the other half sheet of pastry on top of the anchovy, sage and clementine decorated sheet of pastry. Using a rolling pin, press lightly to create a seal.

10. Cut the pastry into 1x 8 inch strips using a sharp knife. Place on a large, lined baking tray, leaving a gap between each strip to allow the pastry to puff. Brush lightly with egg wash. I also like to add a few slivers of finely sliced sage to decorate at this stage.

11. Bake in the preheated oven for 16-18minutes or until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack before serving. Store in an airtight container once cooled if not serving immediately.