Difficulty: Medium
Paris-based chef Yohan Lastre shares this heavenly savoury recipe for buttery flaky pastry stuffed with juicy chicken and pork mixed with fragrant spices and pepper, studded with pistachios and topped with a port jelly. Is your mouthwatering yet? Well, be patient – it takes three days to make. But boy, it’s worth the wait.
Pâté en croûte
Equipment
- 1 rectangular metal pâté en croûte mould measuring 12¼ by 3 inches (31 by 8 cm)
- 1 Instant-read thermometer
Ingredients
For the gelée
- 1 1/8 ounces 32 g gelatin sheets
- 4¼ cups 1L chicken or vegetable broth
- ¼ cup 60 ml ruby port
For the flaky pastry dough
- 11 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon 160 g unsalted butter
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch sugar and 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon 50 g water
- 2½ cups 250 g all-purpose flour
For the filling
- 12 ounces 350 g boneless and skinless chicken breasts
- 10½ ounces 300 g boneless chicken thighs
- 12 ounces 350 g pork belly, trimmed of fat
- 12 ounces 350 g pork tenderloin
- 1 ounce 28 g fleur de sel sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper about 15 turns of the pepper mill
- 1 pinch quatre épices spice blend
- 1/3 cup 80 ml white wine
- 4¼ ounces 120 g pistachios
- 1 tablespoon 14 g butter, softened, to grease the mould
Instructions
Two days before
Make the flaky pastry dough
- Melt the butter, let it cool, then pour it into a mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients. Beat for 20 seconds, pour it out onto a work surface, and knead it with your hands just until a dough forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator.
Make the filling
- Cut all the meat into 1 inch (3 cm) pieces.
- Process the pork belly and chicken thighs through a meat grinder fitted with a grinding plate with large holes.
- Combine the meat with the remaining filling ingredients, wrap the mixture in plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator.
The day before
- Grease the mould with the butter. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1⁄8 to ¼ in (4 to 5mm), then line the mould with the dough, going all the way up the sides.
- Scrape the filling into the mould (do not fold the dough over the top).
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Bake the pâté for about 25 minutes, or until beautifully golden brown, then lower the oven temperature to 275°F (140°C) and bake until the centre reaches 149°F (65°C) on the instant-read thermometer.
- Meanwhile, make the gelée. Melt the gelatin in the warm broth, then stir in the port.
- Remove the pâté from the oven and fill it with the warm gélee.
- Repeat this step four or five times in about 30-minute intervals.
- Refrigerate the pâté and any remaining gelée overnight.
The next day
- Heat the remaining gelée and pour it over the top of the pâté.
- Place the pâté back in the refrigerator until the gelée has set.
- To unmould the pâté en croûte, gently warm the mould in the oven to loosen the pâté crust from the pan. Slice and serve.
The crust
The pâté is made with a base of veal and pork enriched with poultry or wild game and wrapped in a pâte brisée (flaky pastry) or a pâte feuilletée (puff pastry). The dough was first used only for cooking and preserving the meat it encased. It was not until the Middle Ages that the crust was made for eating. In the Viandier, the bible of Medieval cuisine, Charles V’s cook, Guillaume Tirel, also known as Taillevent, developed no fewer than 25 recipes for meat pâtés.
CHEF’S TIP
For a pâté that is stronger in flavour, add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of brandy.
IMAGE ©AURORE CARRIC, MARIELLE GAUDRY
First printed in our sister publication France Today
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