Whilst I'm on the subject of smoked mackerel …

… the following recipe is an absolute must for pescatarians. I've had and used this recipe for years – it's fast, delicious and perfect for working week lunches.

Read on …

Smoked Mackerel Paté

250g smoked mackerel

250g plain quark (it's a soft cheese made from skimmed milk –

not nice on its own but great as a low fat product for healthy pate!)

Glug of lemon juice

Black pepper

Two tsps of creamed horseradish

Remove the skin from the mackerel, flake it and pop into your food processor. Add the quark and blitz with the mackerel, then add the lemon juice, black pepper and horseradish, blitz again. You can gauge the consistency of the paté to your personal taste.

You can then add, for example, finely chopped red onion, chopped capers, sliced black olives – whatever is your fancy.

Serve with anything you like, toasted bread, rice cakes or add to warmed pitta slit, with salad. Add to cooked pasta, hot or cold – perfect for lunch on the run!

If you can't get hold of quark you can use cottage cheese - low fat of course!

If you've not come across Quark before it's an excellent low fat soft cheese suitable for vegetarians. News just in … Alpro now produce vegan quark so everyone is happy!

Now it's time for my pending tray …