This Mushroom Pâté Recipe is a vegetarian homage to traditional French style pâté. It uses everyday ingredients, is simple to make and tastes absolutely delicious served with our Byron Bay Crackers.
The main difference between a traditional French style pâté and this vegetarian version is that we have swapped out the meat & offal for a few large handfuls of freshly harvested mushrooms.
Traditional French Pâté comes in a few variations. However, it is generally made using a mixture of meats and fat to which savoury herbs and spices are added along with a splash of liquor.
The rustic Pâté de Campagne is made using coarsely ground meats, livers and animal fat. As Julia Child explains in ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’, Pâté de Campagnes “… vary in content and flavour throughout France, but always contain pork liver, pork, and sometimes other meats, as well as pork fat, a binder and the usual seasoning”.
Pâté de Campagne that is then baked in pastry and generally served cold is known as Pâté en croute.
Then there are the mousse-like smoother versions of traditional French Pâté that we are most familiar with in Australia. These are usually made using poultry livers and turned into versions such as chicken liver pâté or duck liver parfait.
This Mushroom Pâté Recipe sits somewhere in the middle. The mushrooms come to life with the addition of onion and garlic cooked in butter, along with fresh thyme and a splash of brandy for added richness and depth. The delicious mushroom mix is then blended with cream cheese to your preferred consistency.
This Mushroom Pâté Recipe is delicious served as an appetizer with our Byron Bay Crackers salt & seed or rye & caraway crackers with some cornichons on the side.
Bonne Cuisine!
Mushroom Pâté Recipe
Equipment
- Deep Fyr Pan
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 30 g butter
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 brown onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 300 g mushrooms chopped
- 1 tbsp brandy
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 125 g cream cheese room temperature
- 1/3 cup parsley leaves chopped
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Heat the butter and oil in a heavy based fry pan on medium heat and cook onion until soft. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Add the mushrooms and cook until tender. Add the brandy and fresh thyme and cook until the liquid evaporates.
- Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes
- Add mushroom mix and cream cheese to the bowl of a food processor. Process to your preferred consistency. Season with lots of black pepper and salt.
- Place pâté in the fridge to set.
- Serve at room temperature.