The Daring kitchen: Tricolor Vegetable Pâté

Pâté... never have had the want to try this delicacy (or so am told it is!!). I mean, the thought of eating liver makes me shiver and now add to it mushed liver??? No thank you!!! So after reading that pâté was this month's challenge I was strongly considering taking a pass this month. But wait... isn't the whole point of doing a "challenge" is to challenge yourself. So I kept on reading and the skies opened and the angels sang; there, right before my eyes was the answer to my anguish..... vegetable pâté. I like vegetables (well, most any way!) and so this was certainly going to be doable.
Our hostesses this month, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and Valerie of a The Chocolate Bunny, chose delicious pâté with freshly baked bread as their June Daring Cook’s challenge! They’ve provided us with 4 different pate recipes to choose from and are allowing us to go wild with our homemade bread choice.
 
Our choices for the pâté were:
Three Spice Liver Pâté: adapted from Ravenous Couple, which was inspired by White on Rice Couple.
Chicken Liver Pâté: slightly adapted from Stéphane Reynaud’s Terrine
Tricolor Vegetable Pâté: from Bon Appétit Oct 1993 on Epicurious
Trout and Shrimp Pâté: unknown (handed down to Valerie from someone, who got it from someone else, etc.)

For my bread I went with my tried and true French Bread favorite from Better Homes and Gardens.  It has a nice crunchy crust and is still moist on the inside.  The recipe makes 2 loaves of french bread or four baguettes and I've always had success with freezing the loaves I don't use right away. 

The mandatory guidelines of this challenge were to prepare one pâté recipe and one bread recipe of your choice. The pâté has to 1) be baked or refrigerated (or both) for a significant amount of time, so that 2) you have to be able to unmold it onto a serving dish. This is to avoid the possibility of someone puréeing a bunch of vegetables, putting the mixture in a jar, and calling it “vegetable pâté”: that is not a pâté, that is a spread.

Tricolor Vegetable Pâté
Yields one 25 by 12,5 cm (10 by 5 inch) terrine or loaf pan
Line your pan with plastic wrap, overlapping sides.
To make the White Bean Layer  use:

2 x 15-ounce / 900 ml cans cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained thoroughly

1 tbsp / 15 ml fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp / 15 ml olive oil

1 tbsp / 15 ml minced fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried

2 garlic cloves, pressed

Mash beans in large bowl. Add lemon juice, olive oil, oregano and garlic and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread bean mixture evenly on bottom of prepared pan.

Next make the Red Pepper Layer:
7-ounce / 210 ml jar roasted red bell peppers, drained, chopped
3/4 cup / 180 ml crumbled feta cheese (about 4 ounces)

Combine peppers and feta in processor and blend until smooth. Spread pepper mixture evenly over bean layer in prepared dish.

Your final layer will be the Pesto Layer:

2 garlic cloves

1 cup / 240 ml fresh basil leaves

1 cup / 240 ml fresh Italian parsley leaves

1/4 cup / 60 ml toasted pine nuts
3 tbsp / 45 ml olive oil
1/2 cup / 120 ml low-fat ricotta cheese

First thing is to toast the pine nuts if you have purchased raw pine nuts.  I toasted mine in a frying pan using a teaspoon of butter. Over low heat I stirred the pine nuts until they were a nice golden color. Mince garlic in processor. Add basil, parsley and toasted pine nuts and mince. With machine running, gradually add oil through feed tube and process until smooth. Mix in ricotta. Spread pesto evenly over red pepper layer. Cover with plastic wrap.

Next step is to be patient. You need to let the pâté refrigerate for at least eight hours or overnight. 
To unmold, invert pâté onto serving platter. Peel off plastic wrap from pâté. Garnish with herb sprigs and serve with bread slices.

French Bread
5-1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
2 packages active dry yeast
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups warm water (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F)
Cornmeal
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl stir together 2 cups of the flour, the yeast, and salt. Add the warm water to the flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (8 to 10 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1 hour).

Punch dough down. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease a baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal.

Roll each portion of the dough into a 15x10-inch rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side; seal well. Pinch ends and pull slightly to taper. Place seam side down on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl stir together egg white and water. Brush some of the egg white mixture over loaves. Let rise until nearly double in size (35 to 45 minutes).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Using a sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across the top of each loaf. Bake for 20 minutes. Brush again with some of the egg white mixture. Continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes more or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Immediately remove bread from baking sheet. Cool on wire racks. Makes 2 loaves (28 slices).

Baguettes: Prepare as above, except divide dough into 4 portions. Shape into balls. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease 2 baking sheets or 4 baguette pans; sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll each portion of the dough into a 14x5-inch to 16x5-inch rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side; seal well. Pinch ends and pull slightly to taper. Place seam side down on prepared baking sheets or baguette pans. Continue as directed, except reduce the second baking time to 8 to 10 minutes. Makes 4 baguettes (56 slices).