Red Lentil Pâté Recipe
By
Kate Ramos
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This spreadable vegetarian pâté combines the earthy flavors of lentils, mushrooms, and onion with some smoky paprika for a Spanish twist. It’s a versatile recipe you can use as a dip for vegetables, or spread on a toasted baguette and topped with poached eggs for breakfast.
What to buy: Red lentils actually are more orange than red. They can be found in the bulk section of many grocery stores or at Middle Eastern markets. If you have cooked lentils on hand, you’ll need about 1 3/4 cups for this recipe.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 cup dried red lentils
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced (about 1 1/4 cups)
- 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cremini mushrooms (about 5 medium mushrooms)
- Kosher salt
- 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped (about 1 teaspoon)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 1/4 teaspoons sherry vinegar
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the lentils, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Drain through a fine-mesh strainer and let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and mushrooms, season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften and start to brown, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add the paprika, oregano, black pepper, and bay leaf and stir to coat the onion mixture. Add the white wine, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits sticking to the pan. Simmer until the wine has reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Discard the bay leaf and transfer the mixture to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. Add the cooked lentils and vinegar, season generously with salt, and process until mostly smooth, with some small pieces remaining, about 1 minute. Taste, season with additional salt and pepper as needed, and pulse to combine. Spoon into an airtight container and place in the refrigerator to cool. Serve over toast points or in our Red Lentil Pâté Bruschetta with Poached Eggs recipe.
This is terrific stuff. I used quite a bit more smoked paprika than the recipe calls for--probably closer to 2 teaspoons --and added about 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes a for a bit of heat. I'm not sure if salt was omitted intentionally, but it really needs salt.
I think you could probably make a really good soup by simply adding stock....
Looks like a winer,I like lentils , will make to have in my upcoming trip,
so I'll stay away from Continental food, crackers, cheese, cut up fruit and a glass of vino.
Just made this to put on little mini-toasts as an appetizer yesterday. The color wasn't quite as vibrant as in the picture (where it's shown with the poached egg bruschetta), but I suppose it looked more like an actual liver pate! The taste is fantastic - the wine really makes it delicious. I just used regular paprika since I couldn't find the smoked kind, and it seemed fine to me...
Would it be very bad to use plain paprika - I am not much on smoked flavour and I don't know if I could find it here in The Bahamas.
Garlecchina,
The oregano could either be left out or you could substitute a couple tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley. As far as the mushrooms, they tend to lend some meatiness which would be hard to substitute, flavorwise, but if you wanted to go in a different direction you could sub some cooked butternut squash or even soft cheese, like cream cheese or goat cheese. We found smoked paprika at our local Whole Foods, but if you don't have one in your area, you can order it online from Penzeys Spices: http://www.penzeys.com
Is there any way to substitute the oregano and mushrooms for something else-- I'm not too fond of either, though I'll eat them if I must.
Also...smoked paprika? Where can I find that?
This inspired me to make a version with brown lentils, which I seasoned with indian spices (cumin, turmeric, hot chile, garlic). While it tastes great, without going into detail, visually it is just gross! I'm just glad a made a test batch beforehand. Red lentils will definitely be the way to go unless it's for your eyes only.
Hi Rosemaryrl,
While defrosting a pate can get a little wet, lentils freeze very well in a soup form so I'd give it a try, freeze it thin enough to cut or break off a piece the size you need, defrost in fridge to reduce the moisture and enjoy when thawed through. If there is too much wetness in the dish, just pour it off. You may lose some intense spicy flavours, but it's worth a try. I've frozen vegetable pate's and they do get wet if defrosted too fast (it was with yellow squash), but they were still great.
Rosemaryrl,
While we didn't try freezing this, I don't think it would work. I fear it would be a watery mess once defrosted. You can make it up to 5 days in advance and keep in the fridge.
Am looking for an alternative to meat pate which are not heavy on the fat so this one interests me. Do you think this can be frozen? Would love to have pate to hand and not have to run out and buy it?
rrml@yahoo.com