Vegan Pâté

Ingredients

• 2 slices of sandwich bread
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 medium onions (thinly sliced)
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 4 cups chopped mushrooms (of your choice)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cognac (optional)
• 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup raw cashews (or almonds)
• 1/4 cup melted vegan butter
• 1 and 1/2 tsp cacao powder (optional, for color)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp each: rosemary, thyme
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175°C).

2. 2

   Soak the bread. Cut the sandwich bread into slices or cubes and place it in a bowl. Pour in the almond milk. Let the bread soak while you cook the mushrooms.

3. 3

   Sauté the aromatics. Heat the oil in a skillet and cook the onions until they are caramelized. This step will bring a ton of flavor, so make sure to cook the onions until they really start to brown.

4. 4

   Cook the mushrooms. Once done, add the garlic and the mushrooms and sauté for a 3-5 minutes.

5. 5

   Deglaze. Next, deglaze the pan with the soy sauce and season with ground black pepper. At this point, you can add the alcohol of your choice and cook for another 2-3 minutes to allow it to evaporate. Remove from heat and set aside.

6. 6

   Process the cashews. Add the cashews to a high-speed blender and blend them until you get cashew flour. It’s okay if some larger pieces remain. It will only add to the texture of the pâté.

7. 7

   Transfer the mushrooms to the blender. Next, transfer the mushrooms, soaked bread, melted vegan butter, cacao powder, sugar, rosemary, thyme, nutmeg, and salt to the blender.

8. 8

   Blend. Blend, scraping down the sides from time to time until you get a very slightly chunky texture. If you want your pâté to be smoother, blend longer. That is up to you.

9. 9

   Transfer to jars. Transfer the pâté mixture to two 7-ounce jars or one larger one. Be careful not to fill the jars fully. I recommend leaving about 1/4th empty as the pâté will rise slightly during baking.

10. 10

    Bake. Bake the pâté in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

11. 11

    Let cool and refrigerate. Remove the jars from the oven and let them cool completely at room temperature before transferring them to the refrigerator. Enjoy chilled!

12. 12

    This pâté can be eaten chilled with toasted bread, or spread on bagels, sandwiches, etc! Pâté will keep for up to 7 days in the refrigerator.