Vegetarian Carrot Pâté

This is the third pâté I've ever made myself, and the third vegetarian one (you can see the eggplant one HERE).

Carrot pâté seemed like a slightly strange invention to me, but I thought, why not? Besides, it looks so cheerful that I couldn't resist. Even more so because it will look wonderful on an Easter table (while you're at it, check out my post with ideas for Easter dishes).

Vegetarian carrot pâté

The inspiration is a recipe from "Kuchnia Polska" (Polish Cuisine) published by Reader's Digest, but I adjusted it to my own needs. I replaced half of the eggs with oat bran. I think that in a vegan version you can leave out the eggs completely and use double the amount of oat bran.

This amount of ingredients makes quite a large pâté. I used a 30x11 cm pan. Remember to choose a pan that will fit inside a larger baking dish, because the pâté needs to be baked in a water bath. I baked mine in a deep roasting pan from the oven, which I filled with water to the brim.

Directions:

Peel the carrots, trim the ends, and set aside 700 g of carrots of the same thickness. Cut the remaining carrots into thick slices, cover with 700 ml of broth, and cook for about 20 minutes, then let cool.

Heat 2 tbsp of butter in a large skillet and fry the reserved whole carrots in a single layer for 5 minutes. Then pour in the remaining broth, season, and let it cook down until the liquid evaporates. Toss the carrots well in the sauce so they're evenly coated. Set aside.

Puree the sliced, cooked and cooled carrots, then add the eggs, oat bran, chopped parsley, cream, lemon juice and zest, 3 tbsp of melted butter, and the flour. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg and mix well.

Grease the pan with oil. Spread a layer of the carrot mixture on the bottom, then lay the whole fried carrots lengthwise along the pan, and cover with the rest of the carrot mixture.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Cover the pan with greased aluminum foil or parchment paper, set it in the dish with water, and bake for 1.5 hours. After baking, let it cool in the pan and put it in a cool place for a few hours.

Enjoy!