Awesome Mushroom Pâté Recipe

The perfect ritzy nibble: roasted wild mushroom pâté with thyme, garlic, and truffle oil. Smeared onto waiting baguette rounds, it goes great with Champagne.

By
Kerry Saretsky
a photograph of Kerry Seretsky, a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Kerry Saretsky

Kerry Saretsky interned at Serious Eats in 2008, and wrote the French in a Flash recipe column. She also writes her own blog on modernized French cuisine called French Revolution Food.

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Updated March 16, 2025
Closeup of awesome mushroom pâté, served with sliced baguette.

Serious Eats / Kerry Saretsky

It's my New Year's tradition to make something with truffles. I superstitiously figure the luxurious ingredient will bring a successful year, the way birthday cake brings a sweet one. This year I want to make something sophisticated for a New Year's party. Something that goes with Champagne. Something up to the occasion.

This is my mushroom pâté with truffle oil—easy, vegetarian, versatile, and scrumptious. The key is to roast the mushrooms with freshly ground dried mushrooms, whole cloves of garlic, and thyme; the mushrooms sear and caramelize, the garlic gets softly charred, and the dried mushrooms add an extra 'shroomy oomph to the whole thing. After whizzing it up with Neufchatel cheese (which is quite low fat compared to other cheeses, if that makes you feel better about ringing in the new year with it), parsley, and lemon juice, I finish it with a drizzle of black truffle oil and serve it with rounds of baguette.

It's not a vrai pâté, but as something light, fresh, and vegetarian, this trumps all. Happy New Year!

December 2011

Recipe Details

Awesome Mushroom Pâté Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Cook 20 mins
Active 10 mins
Total 25 mins
Serves 4 to 6 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons finely ground dried mushrooms (a mini food processor should be able to grind a big handful of dried mushrooms)

  • 13 ounces mixed mushrooms, caps quartered, stems roughly chopped (unless they're inedible)

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

  • 4 cloves garlic, left whole and in their paper jackets

  • About 8 whole stems thyme

  • Kosher salt

  • Freshly cracked black pepper

  • 3 ounces Neufchâtel cheese

  • 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, packed

  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice

  • Truffle oil, for drizzling

  • Baguette, thinly sliced, for serving

Directions

  1. Preheat the broiler. Put a wide ovensafe braising pot on the stove over medium-high heat.

  2. Add the olive oil to the hot pot, followed immediately by the mushrooms, dried mushrooms, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Toss everything together with tongs so the mushrooms are well coated with the hot olive oil. Put the mushrooms about 5 to 6 inches from the broiler and cook for 15 minutes, tossing once. The residual heat from preheating the pot will help brown the mushrooms. Scrape everything out of the mushroom pot into a bowl to cool.

  3. When the mushrooms are room temperature, set aside 1/4 cup for garnish. Squeeze the garlic from their jackets and put them and rest of the mushrooms in the food processor with the Neufchatel, parsley, and lemon juice. Whiz until smooth. Taste, and adjust the seasoning. Transfer to a pretty bowl, then drizzle with truffle oil, top with the reserved mushrooms, and serve with thinly sliced baguette.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
118Calories
10gFat
5gCarbs
3gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories118
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g13%
Saturated Fat 3g14%
Cholesterol 10mg3%
Sodium 260mg11%
Total Carbohydrate 5g2%
Dietary Fiber 2g6%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 4mg22%
Calcium 27mg2%
Iron 1mg7%
Potassium 266mg6%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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