It’s good to be back!
Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet over the festive period but it has been manic for us. We had 9 over for Christmas dinner in our little house and I think I’ve been recovering from the ordeal ever since. It was lovely to spend Christmas with family, but it’s nice to get back to normality again.
If you’ve been a regular reader of my blog you’ll probably remember that I really love all things vintage and retro; our Christmas dinner was no exception to this! As the second course (of six!) my guests had a choice of either a retro prawn cocktail or this wonderful mushroom pâté. Some things just work and for me a prawn cocktail is a must for any Christmas dinner. I appreciate that some people don’t really like prawns, so I set about creating this mushroom pâté and I’m really pleased with how it turned out.
Before setting out to make this, I looked at various recipes online. As is common, most of them contained something like 10 ingredients but I wanted something nice and simple. Having never made pâté before, I was a little unsure of where I was going but took a leap of faith and it proved to be delicious after all. Phew!
I’m sure you can vary the ingredients in this if you would prefer a different herb or would like to leave out the garlic. However, I think mushrooms work brilliantly with thyme and garlic so that’s what I went with. You could also use any kind of mushroom you like, depending on what is available and your budget.
Mushroom Pâté
A simple yet delicious pâté, makes a delicious starter with some crusty bread or crackers!
Ingredients
Instructions
1. Fry the onion slowly in the large knob of butter and a small dash of olive oil for a few minutes until soft, then add the mushrooms, thyme and garlic and cook for a few minutes more. Once cooked, leave to cool completely.2. Blend the mixture, together with the cream cheese, until a smooth paste is formed. As always, I used my Optimum 9400 high speed blender for this.3. Spoon into 4 ramekins and level as much as possible using a knife or the back of a spoon. Remember to leave enough space to top with butter.4. Melt the 50g butter and pour over the pâté to seal completely then garnish with a few thyme leaves. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving. Enjoy!
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 4 servings, as a starter.
I am entering this recipe into the ‘Cooking With Herbs’ challenge over at Lavender and Lovage.
My aunt who is vegetarian once gave me some homemade pate sealed in butter like this and it was delicious. I bet your guests loved it!
Sounds great, Sarah. The guests were very complimentary too 🙂
It looks totally perfect Kevin and I'd have been hard pressed to choose between that and the prawn cocktail! Happy new year 🙂
Janie x
Thanks Jane. It was a tough one for me too, but in the end the prawn cocktail won! Happy new year to you too 🙂 x
Yay for cream cheese in pâté. Double yay for mushrooms. A perfect starter.
The cream cheese just adds a lovely creamy texture to this pate, I love it!
Gracious! That sounds wonderful. I never can resist mushrooms. And it does sound easy too.
Thanks Lisa. It really is very easy. Just a case of frying some mushrooms and then blending them. Simple!
Nice and simple – mushrooms and thyme a classic combo – great recipe will give it a try soon.
A TRULY fabulous recipe thanks Kevin and one that I've bookmarked to make soon! Karen
Wow this sounds incredible. Even better that my kids don't like mushrooms so I wouldn't have to share. Bookmarked.