Philippa's Recipes - Mushroom Pate

Philippa's beautifully presented starter was a winner with the meat-eaters as well as our vegetarians. You can give it a go at home as she has kindly given us the recipe for you to pass off as your own!


Mushroom Pate
(p.s. Does anyone know how to type the accent on the e?)



Ingredients
4 tbsp. Madeira or Port
20g Dried Porcini Mushrooms, crumbled
150ml boiling water
40g butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
450g various mushrooms, chopped
1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
175g ricotta cheese
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp. chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

1. Put the Porcini mushrooms in a bowl with the boiling water and leave to soak for at least 30 minutes.
2. Melt the butter and fry the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the fresh mushrooms and cook for a further 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the Porcini mushrooms and their soaking liquid, bring to the boil and simmer until all the liquid has evaporated. Cool.
3. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a food processor and process with the ricotta cheese, vinegar and madeira to a rough paste. Add parsley and plenty of seasoning. Chill until ready to use.