Portobello and Walnut Pate on Crostini

If you like mushrooms, this is a delicious, light pate that makes flavorful holiday appetizers. It's a raw recipe from The Artful Vegan from my favorite vegan chef Eric Tucker. Trust me, Eric knows mushrooms.

The recipe in the cookbook is a filling for root vegetable ravioli with sweet pepper-olive tapenade, but I enjoyed it on crostini with creamy goat cheese, on crackers, and as a dip for crudite. I thought it would make an awesome pasta sauce, but heating it really depleted it's flavor.

This recipe is very easy to make and keeps refrigerated for 4 days, so you can make it ahead of time. My minor adjustments: I used all fresh herbs, added a little red wine and dropped the nutmeg and reduced the recipe (6 oz portobellos - a Trader Joe's pack vs. 16 oz, but I didn't adjust all of the proportions evenly).

Portobello and Walnut Pate adapted from The Artful Vegan

1/2 cup walnuts, soaked in warm water for 4 hours
6 oz portobello mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
1/4 cup red onions, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp barley miso
2+ TBS EVOO
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1/8 tsp fresh thyme, minced
salt and pepper
red wine

While soaking the walnuts, combine the mushrooms, red onions, garlic, miso, and EVOO. Marinate for 2 hours.

Drain the walnuts, then place all ingredients in a food processor and process adding red wine and additional EVOO until you reach the desired consistency (mine was slightly fluffy).

Below, the pate spread on toasted baguette and topped with goat cheese and fresh thyme leaves. I broiled them the cheese topped crostini for 2 minutes.