At first glance, as I popped this round out of its pan and settled it on a plate, I was worried. A brownish-grey recipe dish? Great! How do I photograph and 'sell' this recipe? Then I took a bite. And all anxiety dissolved as I melted into the amazing peppery-nutty--earthy-cheezy flavors and thick yet velvety, fluffy soft texture. This Herb-Crusted Peppercorn Lentil-Nut Pâté is not to be missed...
Slice into the fluffy, buttery-crisp top layer that coats the soft lentil-walnut-cashew insides and the aroma of Italian herbs, black peppercorns and cheezy nutritional yeast hits your senses. An elegant ring of raw pumpkin seeds adds texture to the complex, rich layers. One bite and I knew that this recipe was a keeper.
I love when recipe experiments go RIGHT! This new recipe was one where I was literally tossing ingredients in my Vitamix hoping that all would go well! The inspiration: I was craving lentils and wanted to make some sort of lentil spread. But instead of a been-there-done-that dip I wanted to try merging my favorite cashew cheese recipe with lentils, walnuts, Italian herbs, pumpkin seeds, nutritional yeast and a hint of spiciness. Black peppercorns provide a lively burst of spice.
This recipe is baked at a low temperature for about two hours. Chilled for an hour and served warm. I used a quick soak method for my nuts. Easy canned, pre-cooked lentils. You can serve this pâté as an entree nut loaf, spreadable appetizer or easy snack-y style lunch. This pâté kinda reminds me of a nut-based quiche actually! I devoured two slices for lunch and can't wait for you to try a slice as well..
Herb-Crusted Peppercorn Lentil-Nut Pâté
vegan, makes one large loaf - 18 servings
1 ½ cups cooked lentils, rinsed and drained
2 cups raw cashews, quick soaked and drained (hot water)
1 ¼ cups walnuts, raw (also quick soaked)
1 ½ - 2 cups of water
⅓ cup nutritional yeast
¾ teaspoon pink salt
¾ teaspoon black whole peppercorns
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon
*measure nuts after they have soaked and absorbed some water
Crust accents:
2 tablespoon raw pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
spices: salt, cayenne, pepper, red pepper flakes
2 teaspoon dried Italian Herbs
9" round cake pan used
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Add your cashews and walnuts to a large bowl and add very hot tap water. Allow them to soak for about twenty minutes. Drain the water, rinse and place the nuts in your vitamix along with the rinsed cooked lentils, pink salt, nutritional yeast, peppercorns, olive oil and lemon juice. Also add in 1 cup water.
3. Start blending in your high speed blender or food processor. This is a good five minute process to really smooth things out. Add in another ½ cup water as you proceed. Blend until smooth. Remove 1 cup of this mixture and set aside.
4. Pour in the remaining amount of water and continue blending.
Process Check: So you will have mostly thin and smooth mixture, but you have reserved a small portion of mixture that is slightly more rough, thick and less wet.
5. Prep your cooking pan by adding a generous layer of herbs and spices to the bottom of the pan.
6. Pour in the wet mixture and then spread the thicker mixture over top. (You do not have to do layers like this, but I find it creates more complexity in the cheese.
7. Add a top layer of herbs and spices and seeds similar to the bottom.
8. Place the pan in the 350 preheated oven. Bake for ten minutes then turn the oven down to 250 degrees. Bake at this low temperature for two hours.
9. Pull pan from oven and cool. Place in fridge to chill for about 30-60 minutes.Serve warm. (You can also serve completely chilled or hot from the oven - up to you.)
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to about 3 days.
estimate only. per slice, based on 18 slices per recipe.
*because the nuts were actually measured after soaking up some water, these values will be slightly inflated. More water in the nuts means less were used if they had been dry.
Una Linehan says
Made this yesterday and loved the texture but the taste was very bland even after I added some roasted onion and garlic. It has potential but needs some work to make it more flavorful.
Kerttu Esing says
Dear Kathy, Thank You for sharing Your lovely thoughts and recipes! I have just now discovered this recipe and as soon as I saw it...I knew I have to make it rightaway! Nowadays when I see the regular meat based pate in the store I just get goosebumps. However I have been craving a proper vegan pate lately and I´m sure this will be just that 😛
I was wondering which lentils do You reccomend to use for it to be more authentic: green lentils or brown lentils? Your reply is much appreciated 🙂 With joyful regards from Estonia, Kerttu
Frederique says
I made this for a vegan potluck and it was an instantaneous hit! People ate it all, even spreading some on raw beet slices when we ran out of bread, or straight up with a spoon! I added a teaspoon of preserved truffle and wild mushroom spread as well as using "montreal steak spice" for the crust. It was to die for!
Kathy Patalsky says
That is awesome!!! Thank you for reporting back!
Kayla Nichole Håvarstein says
Barnehage = preschool 🙂 oops. I forget that not everyone is in Norway
Elien says
Hey Kayla!
I guess (it' been a while) I just used 2 cups of sunflowerseeds instead of the cashews. I rarely weigh. Not sure if you could sub all the nuts with seeds though, taste-wise I mean. But maybe experiment with a mix of seeds? Sunflower, pumpkin, some pine ?
Good luck & Let me know how it turns out !
Elien says
I made this subbing soaked sunflowerseeds for cashews and quick-soak pecans for the walnuts.
Very amazed with the flavour, yum!
Definitely makes a big batch :p Might make half next time, since it's only me.
Also not sure whether I liked it best warm or chilled, I really love it either way.
Thanks for this amazing recipe, Kathy!
Kayla Nichole Håvarstein says
You're my hero for posting this. I make this all the time as-is but was told I can't send it with my vegan daughter to barnehage because it contains nuts. So I was hoping I could sub all the nuts with sunflower seeds. Did you go by weight? What amount did you replace the nuts with? Thank you!
Kati Paulsen Morneau says
This is an amazing recipe! I am not a vegan, but I like this better than "real" pate. I've made it for several parties, and people love it!
Leah says
I am French Canadian and used to love foie gras, I have tried a lot of bought pate from vegan store in Mtl, QC but nothing even came close to have almost the tast and same texture of foie gras before. I made this to a dinner party, everyone was in awe... I made it last week and doing it again tonight, Thank you so much!
Alice says
OMG! This was my first ever vegan pate, but I'm not even going to look further (well, maybe if I get bored with this one, which I doubt). It tastes amazing! I can't get over it. Ever since I've tried this, I'm craving it constantly. You're a genius!:)
Sarah says
I made this last week and I think I didn't quite put enough water in it, because I lowered the quantities slightly. But it tasted fantastic! I used a melon baller and formed little "meatballs" with the pate and served it with some gluten free noodles with a little garlic and butter- so good!
Ricki says
I've gotta say, it looks fantastic to me! Never mind the color. . . yum, yum, yum!!
Lina says
What kind of lentils do you use?
Genevieve says
I wasn't really sure what to expect with this, but it turned out so good! I served it at our Easter family dinner last night and everyone loved it - they thought it tasted similar to, but better than the non-veg version!
TGL says
Do you mean curing salt (sometimes call pink salt) or just Himalayan-like pink salt?
Kathy Patalsky says
Aw that is so great to hear! I am so glad you enjoyed it and yes I wish this stuff was for sale at every butcher shop!! Vegan pâté for all. Thx!
Elza Lautenschutz-kwakman says
Hello Kathy,made this last night,let it chill overnight and just had a piece of it with some toast,my oh my what a great taste and texture.Had a bit more herbs and stuff on the top, its superb.If it was for sale at the butchers, nobody would taste the difference .Happy with the newcommer in my kitchen.Thank you !
Christina says
This looks amazing!!
Vegan Richa says
That looks gorgeous.. i think i will add a bit more seeds and herbs on the top and no one will know!
Kathy Patalsky says
You can totally just blend it all together. 🙂
Maria Tadic says
This looks so good! I can't wait to try this. If you do not want to do the layers, do you need to separate out some of the mixture - or do you just blend all together?
Kerry Surface says
this looks and sounds fantastic...french pate is something i have missed since cutting out animal products. now i can have this with french mustard and cornichons!! thanks!
fullrecipesandstyle says
What a great idea ! I love this recipe,it sure beats abusing ducks.
adi says
what can i use instead of nutritional yeast?
Kathy Patalsky says
Right? French Pate makeover indeed. ,, and you are welcome! 🙂
Kathy Patalsky says
Yup, it really did turn out like a "vegan version pate" which is kinda cool. And I can live with the color since the flavor is delish and lively! 🙂
Vegan Yack Attack says
The color might be a bit drab, but it is very similar to it's non-vegan version (at least the ones that I've seen before), but yours is much more appetizing! Plus, it's cruelty free! 😀
LeGrumeau says
Sounds really delicious, it seems to be such a good remake of the traditional French pâté! Thank you for the recipe.