A modern take on the Seder plate: Passover Board with Sweet & Smoky Deviled Eggs

Much of the meal talk surrounding Passover is typically focused on two areas: tasty, inventive recipes that fit right in with your family’s Seder standards, and matzah-laden takes on breakfast and lunch to help you keep kosher that week. But what about the in-between meals shared with guests before and after those big Pesach dinners? This bountiful brunch board from Lisa Dawn Bolton’s cookbook On Boards is the answer. Packed with smoked salmon, deviled eggs and tons of fresh vegetables, it’s an unconventional ode to the Seder plate that’s both beautiful and light enough to serve the morning after a multi-course feast. As Bolton notes, be sure to seek out kosher for Passover versions of ingredients like mayonnaise before assembling your spread, so that it can be enjoyed equally by everyone around your table.

Passover Board with Sweet & Smoky Deviled Eggs

By Lisa Dawn Bolton

Passover is a meaningful occasion in mid-spring for which to prepare a bountiful board. It’s celebrated by people of the Jewish faith to commemorate a time when, according to the Hebrew bible, God directed Moses to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Once the sun sets on the first day of Passover, Jews conduct the Seder—the traditional feast for Passover. Matzah replaces any sort of leavened bread at this time. Make certain to inquire if any of your guests are keeping kosher so you can create a modern interpretation of a Seder plate while respecting the tradition and its associated requirements.

Ingredients

Sweet & Smoky Deviled Eggs:

• 12 extra-large eggs
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• ½ tsp flaked sea salt
• ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ cup crème fraîche
• ½ tsp liquid honey
• 2 tbsp full-fat mayonnaise

For the board:

• Sweet & Smoky Deviled Eggs (see above)
• 2 cups assorted grape, cherry or on-the-vine tomatoes
• 10 center stalks celery, leaves attached on some
• 4 oz sockeye salmon lox
• 4 oz wild hot-smoked sockeye salmon
• 4 oz peppercorn-crusted smoked salmon
• ⅓ cup cream cheese
• 16 matzah crackers
• 2 to 4 heirloom tomatoes, for garnish
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
• Fresh dill, for garnish
• 1 tbsp flaked sea salt

Preparation

For the Sweet & Smoky Deviled Eggs:

Hard-boil the eggs. Drain the eggs and rinse under cold water. Carefully peel the eggs. Slice the eggs in half lengthwise and scoop out the yolks.

Place the yolks into a food processor with the remaining ingredients. Puree until smooth.

Using a spoon, scoop a small amount of filling into the empty egg white. Using a butter knife, level the filling flat with the white. Reserve any excess yolk filling as a dip or sandwich spread.

Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

For the board:

Make the Sweet & Smoky Deviled Eggs (see above).

Prepare the vegetables: If the celery stalks are wide, run a knife from top to bottom to split them in 2 without removing the leaves. Leave the tomatoes whole.

Serve the other components in the style that works best for you, then arrange them around the different salmon on the board. Top with optional garnishes. Finish the board with a light sprinkling of flaked sea salt on the eggs, celery and tomatoes.

Tips: If you’re serving a kosher board, every step of the process (from purchasing and storing to preparing and serving the food) must be kept kosher. Consult online resources, reach out to a local synagogue or ask one of your guests for guidelines.

Excerpted from On Boards: Simple & Inspiring Recipe Ideas to Share at Every Gathering by Lisa Dawn Bolton. Copyright © 2018 Lisa Dawn Bolton. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.