chickpeas with the garlic, oil and tahini, starting with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and 250ml (8–9fl oz) of the liquid, to make a purée roughly the consistency of lightly whipped cream.
Taste, adding more tahini if you want a more intense flavour. Season with salt and pepper.
Put the hummus into a large shallow dish, drizzle over some olive oil, sprinkle with paprika and garnish with lemon wedges and black olives.
VARIATION
Red pepper hummus
Make as described, using 1 tablespoon of tahini and 2–4 roasted red peppers from a jar. Blend everything together before adding any liquid, because the red peppers add moisture to the mixture. Flavour with 1–2 pinches of paprika and a drop of Tabasco sauce if you want to make it hotter.
Lentil and mushroom pâté
The earthy flavour of both lentils and mushrooms combines to make this satisfying pâté. It can be served piled up on salad leaves or packed into a pâté dish, with some crackers or melba toast.
SERVES 2 AS A MAIN MEAL, 4 AS A STARTER
125g (4oz) dried green lentils or 400g can
50g (2oz) button mushrooms
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2–4 tsp lemon juice
If you’re using dried lentils, cook them in plenty of water until they’re very tender, about 45–50 minutes, then drain. If using canned lentils, simply drain and rinse.
Wipe the mushrooms and chop them up fairly finely.
Heat the oil in a small saucepan and fry the mushrooms and garlic for 2–3 minutes, then remove them from the heat and mix in the lentils and parsley.
Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Chill before serving.
Lentil and tomato spread
Quick-cooking split red lentils are used for this spread. It tastes great in sandwiches with some raw onion, chutney or sliced tomato.
SERVES 4
125g (4oz) split red lentils
200ml (7fl oz) water
25g (1oz) butter, softened
1 tbsp tomato purée
a few drops of lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cook the lentils in the water for 20–30 minutes or until they’re tender and there’s no water left. Leave to cool.
Mash the butter, tomato purée, lemon juice and some salt and black pepper into the cooked lentils. Beat well with a spoon to make a smooth pâté.
VARIATION
Lentil and chive spread
Make this as described but leaving out the tomato purée and adding 1–2 tablespoons of chopped chives instead.
Lentil and parsley spread
Make as described, leaving out the tomato purée and adding 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley. One or two finely chopped spring onions go well in this, too.
Mushroom pâté
This flavoursome pâté makes an excellent starter. Try it with some croûtes or breadsticks.
SERVES 4
15g (oz) dried porcini mushrooms
450g (1lb) mushrooms
1 garlic clove, peeled
2–4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
25g (1oz) butter or 2 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a squeeze of lemon juice
TO SERVE
a little soured cream or crème fraîche
a sprinkling of paprika
sprigs of flat-leaf parsley
Rinse the porcini mushrooms thoroughly to get rid of any grit. Put them in a small bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to soak for 1 hour. Drain and reserve the liquid.
Put the soaked mushrooms and their liquid into a food processor with the ordinary mushrooms, the garlic and the parsley and whiz until everything is finely chopped. Alternatively, roughly slice the mushrooms, then put all the ingredients into a deep bowl and use an electric hand blender.
Heat the butter or oil in a large saucepan and add the mushroom mixture. Stir, then cook, uncovered, for 15–20 minutes or until all liquid has boiled away. Remove the pan from the heat and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Leave to cool. Serve on individual plates with a heaped teaspoon of soured cream or crème fraîche, a sprinkling of paprika and a sprig of parsley on each.
Stilton pâté with walnuts and port
This easy-to-make recipe is perfect at Christmas. Serve it as a starter on individual plates with watercress and a few fresh walnuts, or pile it into a bowl and serve with crackers. Note that the only type of port that is vegetarian is ‘crusted’, a very small category, named because of the ‘crust’ of sediment that forms in the bottle. It is intended to be a more economical alternative to Vintage or Late-bottled Vintage and is made from a blend of several harvests. The date on the label refers to when it was bottled.
SERVES 6
225g (8oz) Stilton cheese
350g (12oz) cream cheese
75g (3oz) butter, softened
3 tbsp ‘crusted’ port
50g (2oz) shelled
