Party Animals No. 34: Garlic-White Wine Almond Pate

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This week, another almond pate variation. This one packed with garlic, lemon, and white wine. Like its sweet counterpart in that post, this one's thoroughly addictive smeared on crackers or muffins, which is just how both were served at the 2015 Big Ears Brunch. (Which I had intended to blog about, but, for reasons not worth typing out, had to toss the idea of documenting with any care. Which is a shame because it featured some totally fabulous beet-lentil sliders made by a generous pal.)

So not only does the molded pate work as a star on a table of munchies, it can also do heavy lifting in a supporting role for a main dish. It works on sandwiches and begs to be crumbled into a salad. If you're in the mood to gild a lily, there should be no reason you can't knead crumbles into biscuit dough before baking.

For a simple way to really highlight this luscious spread, serve it on a bagel or as a tartine topped with herbs and veg for an any-day lunch worth lingering over.

Or expand that idea just slightly for something you can serve to guests by whipping up a tart crust and spreading the pate down before topping with herbs and any lovely thing you can grab—sauteed mushrooms, grilled asparagus or broccolini, or oven-dried tomatoes. Bake it off, pour some wine, and you're entertaining with ease.

Similarly, it makes great pizza.

It's fabulous to be able to mold the pate and serve it on a plate, but the good news is, if you don't need the firmer texture or an impressive presentation, you can skip chilling the pate before baking. That means no planning ahead. Blend, spoon into a ramekin, bake, and it's ready to go.

That works particularly well for this greens pie. Mixing the softer pate fresh from the oven into a mix of baby spinach and baby arugula allows the heat from the spread to wilt the greens just a bit before spreading the whole gorgeous shebang on pizza dough.

If green things on pizza don't work in your house, rest assured that topping a generous layer of pate (about a quarter-batch per 10-inch pie) with canned fire-roasted tomatoes and herbs makes a beautifully rich, salty, satisfying pie. And just imagine what substituting fresh tomatoes will do for the whole thing this summer.

Garlic-White Wine Almond Pate

Print the recipe

adapted from here (post includes credit links)

150g blanched almond meal

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup water

3 TBSP sunflower (or olive, or canola) oil

2 large (or 3 small-medium) cloves garlic

3/4 tsp fine sea or kosher salt

Heat oven to 350.

Blend all ingredients with an immersion blender until smooth.

For a softer spread, divide evenly between two 10-oz ramekins. Bake 40 minutes, until puffed and golden brown on top. The spread can be used immediately as a pizza or tart base before baking, or let cool before serving on a tartine or crackers.

Alternately, to mold, line two 10-oz ramekins with a double layer of cheesecloth. Divide the mixture evenly between the ramekins, fold cheesecloth over, and chill for at least 3 hours, or up to overnight. (In a pinch, chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.) Use the cheesecloth to lift the pate from the ramekins, carefully transfer to an oiled baking sheet (without cheesecloth), and bake for 40 minutes, until golden. Let cool thoroughly before serving.

Hitting the Books No. 2: Easy Dinner Pies from The Vegan Stoner and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

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Welcome back to Hitting the Books. It's another two-fer, featuring two low-stress meals. First up, a dish from Colleen Patrick-Goudrau's The Vegan Table (available at Lawson-McGhee under 641.5636 PATR).

Sweet browned onions and wilted greens (here spinach, though the recipe calls for chard) are combined with intense Kalamata olives and briny little capers to create one tasty pile of eats. Even better, it's gives great depth of flavor while being friendly to even the newest of cooks. If you can slice an onion and stir, you're in.

The book presents this melange as a side dish, but for you bowl-of-food lovers, it seems just the thing to heap over any creamy starch, like polenta/grits or mashed potatoes. But a note on the recipe says it makes a fabulous pizza topping, so here we are. Definitely recommended.

And just imagine what a little crispy tempeh might do for the whole thing.

Next, another dip into The Vegan Stoner Cookbook. This falafel pie--complete with yogurt-cucumber sauce--was slightly less fun than expected, but it did turn what would've been a dinner of hummus and crudite into something more satisfying, with very little effort. Just add water to falafel mix for the crust, chop your veg and puree the sauce while that bakes, and done.

A note on the recipe suggests tucking pieces of the pie into pita, which is probably how this eats best. Maybe next time. In any event, it's dead simple, and still pretty fun. If you have kids, this would be a great one to get them cooking with. If you're comfortable explaining to them the tomato with the drugs on the cover, anyway.

As always, thanks for reading, and see you next week with a new recipe.

About Hitting the Books: You know that shelf in your house with all the great cookbooks you don't get to nearly as often as you'd like? Yeah, there's one of those over here, too. The Hitting the Books series allows for occasional opportunities to dig into that shelf and highlight some handy cookbooks.

Potato and Spinach Pesto Flatbread

With thin, golden potatoes blanketing a crusty, chewy base, this loaded flatbread is way comforting and seriously family- and party-friendly (and don't forget about brunch). The dough takes its cues from the convenience of the slow cooker. Just stir together the dough ingredients in the morning and have this beautiful little whole wheat number almost ready to go after happy hour.

Bonus points for getting in a pile of green via the spinach-walnut pesto. Note that all the varieties of vegan pesto from the MSV kitchen are salted solely from red miso paste. And because it's fermented (and more pungent than light miso), red miso gives the finished product every bit of depth of flavor you expect from pesto. The result is totally unimpeachable and frequently necessary.

Potato and Spinach Pesto Flatbread

Print the recipe 

serves 4 

For the dough: 

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp active dry yeast

3/4 tsp fine sea (or kosher) salt

1 cup water

For the Spinach-Walnut Pesto: 

4 oz (2 packed cups) fresh baby spinach leaves

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 tsp red miso paste

1/4 cup shelled, unsalted walnuts

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

To assemble: 

1 medium Yukon gold potato (about 7 oz total weight) 

black pepper, to taste

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, yeast, and salt. Add the water and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Cover with a towel and let rise 8-9 hours. Punch the dough down, fold it over itself a few times, replace the towel, and let rise another hour. 

While the dough undergoes its second rise, prepare the pesto by pureeing all ingredients until smooth. Scrub the potato and cut into very thin slices (1/16")--this will ensure they cook fully. 

Thirty minutes before the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 450, preferably with a pizza stone on the lowest rack. Liberally dust a pizza peel with cornmeal. 

When the dough is ready, transfer it to the prepared peel and dust the top liberally with cornmeal. Roll it out to a circle 12-13 inches in diameter (make sure the dough is not sticking to the peel at all times--if it starts to, stop and dust the peel with more cornmeal before proceeding). Using a fork, dock the dough, leaving a 1/2-3/4-inch border for a crust, if desired. Top with the pesto and potato slices, sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper, transfer to the oven, and bake for 20 minutes. The crust will be golden and sound hollow when tapped and the potatoes will have begun to brown in spots. 

Let cool for five minutes before serving. 

Vegan Bruschetta Pizza Two Ways

The artichoke pie is light and zippy, the eggplant one is rich and savory. They pair perfectly. And since the ingredients are nearly identical, they're a snap to make at the same time. If you’re ever in need of a more elegant presentation, these should make great savory galettes: Chop and toss together the ingredients instead of processing, then top the unbaked crusts, leaving a three-inch border. Fold the edges over, and bake.

 Print the recipes

Artichoke Bruschetta Pizza:

1 15-ounce can artichoke hearts packed in water, drained and rinsed well
half of one large roasted red bell pepper
1 clove garlic
juice of half a lemon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp dried oregano
dash of freshly cracked black pepper
dash ground cayenne
1 TBSP olive oil

Eggplant Bruschetta Pizza:

1 small Italian eggplant, sweated and cooked at 450 (without oil) for about 15 minutes
half of one large roasted red bell pepper
1 clove garlic
juice of half a lemon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp dried oregano
dash of freshly cracked black pepper
dash ground cayenne
3 TBSP olive oil

The method for both toppings is the same: Add all ingredients except oil to a food processor. Process and, with the motor running, drizzle in the oil. The result should be a chunky pate.

Top your pizza crust of choice and bake according to your crust's needs.