Feel cultivated? Oops sorry cultured, then take a bite of this mushroom pâté, its mild spices bringing a new appeal to the ever-popular mushroom, and what’s better is that this little starter is perfect for dinner guests. It is both appetizing, dairy-free and, for the added bonus, animal friendly. No geese in this pâté! After all it’s vegan.
Makes: 5 portions
Level of difficulty: Easy
Total time: 25-30mins
Ingredients
7 tbsp olive oil (including caramelising)
½ red onion (60g)
180g mushrooms (mix of chestnut and shiitake)
2 medium garlic cloves
1 tin of chickpeas (400g)
3 tbsp water
3 tsp lemon juice
3 large pinches of ground black peppercorn
0.5 tsp mild curry powder
1 tsp mild garam masala
Recipe:
- Wash all the mushrooms, and remove the stems from the shiitake. Cut the shiitake and chestnut mushrooms into quarters. Leave aside for now.
- Chop the bottom and top of the red onion, and peel off the outer layer – discard these. Cut the onion in half, and fridge or freeze the other half, to be used for another occasion. Dice the remaining onion.
- Using a frying pan, set the temperature to low-medium and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, followed by the diced onion. Cook for 5 mins, and stir occasionally to avoid burning.
- Next, cut the top and bottom from the 2 garlic cloves and peel. Crush the garlic.
- Add the mushrooms and crushed garlic to the frying pan, and cook for another 8 mins. Occasionally stir to avoid any burning.
- Meanwhile, drain the chickpeas and rinse in cold water. Take any bad chickpeas out – these are much darker in colour than the rest – and discard. Place the chickpeas in a blender, and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of water, and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Blend until there are no more hard lumps.
- Returning back to the onions, mushrooms, and garlic (which should now be lightly cooked), distribute these equally around the blender and onto the already blended chickpeas. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Blend until smooth.
- Lastly, add the mild curry powder, ground peppercorn and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Again, distribute this around the blender. Drizzle across 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Blend until smooth and thoroughly mixed.
Your mild spice mushroom pâté should now be ready to serve.
