Mushroom and Thyme Pâté

This was a real hit with everyone when I was recipe testing and makes a nice change to the usual chicken liver pâté.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, finely chopped
300 grams button mushrooms, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon chopped thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ cup Marsala
2 teaspoons lemon juice
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
100 grams cream cheese at room temperature

To finish
melted butter
slices of cooked mushroom
sprigs of thyme
toasted baguette to serve

METHOD

Heat the butter in a large sauté pan and add the onion with a good pinch of salt. Cover and cook until the onion is very tender, stirring occasionally. Increase the heat to high, add the mushrooms and cook for about 8 minutes until golden and tender and most of the liquid that the mushrooms have released has evaporated.

Add the garlic, thyme and nutmeg and cook for 30 seconds then add the Marsala, letting it bubble up and cook until the mushrooms are glossy and most of the Marsala has been cooked off. Stir in the lemon juice and season well.

Tip the mushrooms into a food processor and add the cream cheese. Process until smooth and scrape down the side of the bowl if necessary. The pâté will be very soft at this stage. Spoon into ramekins or small jars, packing it in well and smooth the top.

To finish: The pâté can be left plain or topped with a thin layer of melted butter, a slice of cooked mushroom and a sprig of thyme. Cool then cover and refrigerate. Pâté will keep for 5 days.
Makes 1¼ cups