Pâté en croûte is a French charcuterie delicacy featuring a savoury mix of meats seasoned encased in a beautiful golden, flaky pastry crust. This visually stunning dish, often decorated with intricate designs, is a popular choice for appetizers or festive occasions in France. Its popularity has even led to the creation of a world championship, where top chacutiers masters compete to craft the most exquisite version of this time-honored dish! Despite its elegant presentation, making pâté en croûte is easier than it looks, bringing a touch of French tradition to your table.
Preparation time
60 min
Ingredients For
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For the stuffing (to fill a mold of approx. 1L)
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500 g
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200 g
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0.50 bunch
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3 sprigs
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x 2
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60 g
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50 ml
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2 slices
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For the pastry
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180 g
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-
x 1
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x 1
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2 tbsp
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For the gel filling:
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2 leaves
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75 ml
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1 tbsp
Preparation
1
Everything ready?
2
For the stuffing:
Cut the pork, veal and bacon into cubes. Rinse off the marjoram and thyme, shake dry and chop the leaves. Peel and chop the garlic. Mix together the meat, herbs, garlic, bay leaves and 1 tsp of salt and pepper, cover and chill overnight.
3
For the pastry:
Combine the flour, salt, egg, egg yolk, cold butter in small pieces and milk in a mixing bowl. Knead the mixture into a soft dough, first using the dough hooks of the hand mixer, then by hand. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
4
For the filling:
Heat the milk, pour it over the diced baguette or toasting bread and leave for 5 minutes to soak in. Remove the bay leaves from the meat mixture. Pass the meat mixture and the soaked bread through the middle plate of the meat grinder. Season the meat generously with salt and pepper, mix thoroughly and then chill again.
5
Roll the pastry out over a little flour to a thickness of around 1/2 cm and line a greased terrine mold (approx.. 1 l ); or a loaf pan 30 cm in length) with it. The edges of the pastry should overhang by about 2 cm. Add the filling to the mold or pan and press firmly.
6
Preheat the oven to 220 °C
7
Cut sheets out of the remaining dough or use a cutter of your choice and stick to the terrine, using egg white.
8
Whisk the egg yolk and some water and brush the pastry top with it. Bake the terrine in the oven for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 180 °C, 160 convection and bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes. Take the pie out of the oven and leave to cool to room temperature in the pan.
9
For the gel:
Soak the gelatin in very cold water. Season the sweet wine with some salt, pepper and sugar and heat. Dissolve the squeezed gelatin according to the instructions on the pack. Dissolve in the Banyuls and stir well. When the liquid begins to gel, pour the gel over the terrine, so that it fills the gaps and covers the surface. Leave to set in the refrigerator.
Contributor
Sandy Neumann
Bloggerin
