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Mortadella Pâté

Mortadella is a super-high-quality baloney. In fact, it’s probably the most delicious baloney you’ve ever had. At one of my dinner parties I was serving mortadella and one of my guests said, “Hey, this baloney has nuts in it!” And it does: Mortadella is full of pistachios and chunky bits of fat, both of which make it super-flavorful. My mortadella pâté is puréed, mixed with whipped cream, and topped with pistachios—think of it as baloney mousse.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serves : 6 to 8

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chicken stock (see page 85)
1/2 pound mortadella, 6 ounces cut into 2-inch chunks and 2 ounces cut into small dice
1 cup heavy cream, whipped to medium peaks
1/2 cup shelled and chopped pistachios

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Melt the butter in a large, deep saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, continuing to whisk until well combined; it should look like wet sand. Add the chicken stock and continue to cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

    Step 2

    Purée the large chunks of mortadella in a food processor until very smooth, then add the butter-flour mixture and continue puréeing until the mixture is homogeneous. Scrape down the sides of the food processor and check the consistency—it should be very smooth.

    Step 3

    Transfer the purée to a large mixing bowl and add the diced mortadella, along with a third of the whipped cream. Gently combine the whipped cream into the mixture; repeat twice more. What you’re looking for is a homogeneous mixture without any streaks of cream. Transfer the pâté to a serving dish and sprinkle with pistachios.

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