Mushroom Pâté

In my previous meat-eating life I never was a fan of the pâté but this mushroom recipe bulked with lentils and walnuts was really good. 

Ingredients
100g button mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlice cloves,  minced
400g green lentils, cooked
140g walnuts, toasted
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp mushroom ketchup (or soy sauce)
2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh sage or flat leaf parsley
2 tsp Brandy (optional)
1 tsp brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt
freshly ground black pepper


Method

Toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan then set aside to cool.

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the dried green lentils for around 25 minutes until they are soft. Strain from the water and set aside to cool.

In the meantime wash the mushrooms and slice off the dry ends of the stems. Then thinly slice all the mushrooms. 

Over a medium heat melt the butter and add the olive oil to a frying pan. Add the onions and garlic, and cook for about 5 minutes until they soften. Add the mushrooms and continue frying until they have cooked through. (about another 5 minutes.) Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Combine the cooked lentils, walnuts, lemon juice, mushroom ketchup, all the chopped herbs, the brandy (optional), brown sugar, and cayenne pepper in a food processor. Give it a brief blitz. 

Next add the cooked mushrooms and onions and blend until smooth. 

Season with salt and pepper, adding more lemon juice, mushroom ketchup, sugar etc to get the flavour just right.

Scoop the pâté into a bowl and leave in the fridge a few hours or over night to firm up.