Smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches) are made all over Scandinavia, but particularly loved in Denmark and now considered one of their national dishes. They are essentially pieces of bread decorated with delicious toppings and can be either made in a simple rustic picnic way or as small beautifully decorated canapés for parties. There’s lots of rules for a traditional Smørrebrød, mostly revolving around pickled fish!

So we are rewriting the Smørrebrød rule book and coming up with our own vegan combinations.

To make up the Smørrebrød

Layer up the ingredients onto each piece of bread and arrange them on a large plate or wooden board, we cut some in half, so they can be shared between 3 to 4 people.

We have made 3 different combinations but you could play around with all the ingredients and make up your own versions.

Squash and Walnut Smørrebrød

Serves 2

Prep time 15 minutes | Cook time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• ¼ butternut squash
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Candied walnuts

• 8 walnut halves
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• Pinch of flaky sea salt
• 2 slices rye bread
• 4 tbsp cashew cheese (recipe below)
• 2 tbsp red cabbage sauerkraut
• Sprig of dill

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Peel the ¼ piece of butternut squash and scoop out any seeds. Slice down the length of the squash to make lots of 1/2cm slices. Lay the squash out on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast the squash slices in the preheated oven for 25 minutes until soft and slightly colouring around the edges.
3. To make the candied walnuts, mix the walnut halves with the maple syrup. Place on a small parchment lined baking tray, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
4. Onto 2 pieces of rye bread, divide the 4 tablespoons of cashew cheese and spread evenly over each bread slice, layer over the roasted squash to cover the bread. Top each bread with a spoon of red cabbage sauerkraut, candied walnuts and a sprig of dill.

Fig Smørrebrød

Serves 2

Prep time 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 small red onion
• 1 tbsp pickling liquid
• 2 slices rye bread
• 4 tbsp cashew cheese or cream cheese
• 4 ripe figs, sliced
• Handful of kale crisps (recipe below)

Method

1. Peel the red onion and slice into thin rings, place in a bowl and mix in 1 tablespoon of the pickling liquid, leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Onto 2 pieces of rye bread, divide 4 tablespoons of cashew or cream cheese and spread evenly over each bread slice, layer over the sliced figs onto each bread, top with kale crisps and pickled red onion rings.

Avocado and Beetroot Smørrebrød

Serves 2

Prep time 30 minutes | Cook time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 medium beetroot
• 2 tbsp pickling liquid (recipe below)
• 2 tsp Stubb’s hickory liquid smoke
• 1 mini cucumber
• 2 slices rye bread
• 1 avocado, cut in half, remove stone, peel and slice

Decoration

• 2 tsp ‘cavi-art’ (vegan caviar alternative)
• Handful of pea shoots

Method

1. Slice the mini cucumber into ½ cm slices, place in a bowl and mix in 1 tablespoon of the pickling liquid, leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C.
3. Keep the beetroot whole and unpeeled. Wrap the beetroot in foil. Roast the beetroot for 1 hour until tender. Leave to cool, then rub off the skin.
4. Slice the beetroot and pour over 1 tablespoon of the pickling liquid plus 2 teaspoons of Stubb’s hickory liquid smoke and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
5. Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone, peel and slice.
6. Onto 2 pieces of rye bread, divide the avocado slices between each piece of bread, fanning them out to cover the whole surface, arrange with slices of pickled beetroot and pickled cucumber, top with a teaspoon of ‘cavi-art’ and decorate with pea shoots.

Cashew Cheese

Makes 350g cashew cheese

Prep time: 1 hour and 10 minutes | Setting time: 2 hours

Ingredients

• 250g cashews – soaked in boiling water for 1 hour, then drain and rinse
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

1. Pour enough boiling water over the cashews to cover well. Leave to sit for 1 hour. Drain the water and give the cashews a rinse.
2. Combine the soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and salt into a blender and blend. You may need to add a little water to help blend but try to keep it as thick as possible by adding as little water as possible.
3. Leave in the fridge for 2 hours to firm up.

Kale Crisps

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 large kale leaves
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp Malden sea salt
• 4 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

Method

1. Take the hard stems out of the kale and tear the kale leaves into pieces.
2. Put the kale leaves into a big bowl and rub them with olive oil, so that all the leaves are lightly coated. Sprinkle with sea salt and nutritional yeast.
3. Lay the kale leaves out onto a baking tray in a single layer.
4. Heat the oven to 110C/100Fan and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, regularly opening the oven to let out the steam. Take out when crisp.

Pickling Liquid

Prep time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp golden caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp boiling water
• 1 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp dill seeds

Method

1. Place the golden caster sugar and salt into a small bowl and pour on the boiling water. Mix until the sugar and salt has dissolved. Add the cider vinegar, coriander and dill seeds and leave to infuse for an hour.