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Delicious mushroom pâté with lentils

by Stela Kordić

This crazy delicious vegan mushroom pâté with lentils is a sure winner for a weekend party night!

To make this mushroom pate, shiitake and oyster mushrooms are steamed and blended with cooked green lentils, walnuts and tamari to get an umami-rich delicacy spreadable on a piece of toasted bread or vegetable crudites.

Believe me, even your friends, meat lovers, won’t be disappointed after trying it. You simply can’t go wrong with it!

Bowl of mushroom pâté with lentils topped with walnuts and spring onion. A plate of rye bread slices and another plate of crackers.


Which ingredients will you need for this mushroom pâté?

  • Olive oil
  • Shallots
  • Garlic
  • Green lentils
  • Shiitake & oyster mushrooms
  • Walnuts
  • Tamari
All the ingredients needed to make this mushroom pâté with lentils.
Do you have all the ingredients needed for this mushroom pâté?


Shopping Tips

Lentils: For this recipe, you will need dried green lentils, which don’t need prior soaking and need only 15-20 minutes of cooking. In case you are on a tight schedule, you can also buy canned lentils; just remember that they are a nutritionally poorer option. Canning harms the content of vitamins, dietary fibre and other complex carbohydrates, which is why I always use dried lentils in my recipes.

Mushrooms: When buying mushrooms, make sure they are firm to the touch and light in texture. Avoid those that started to soften or those with visible dark spots as they began to decompose. Here you can find some useful tips on how to store mushrooms for longer freshness.

In case you buy more mushrooms than this recipe calls for, make sure to store them properly and use them to make vegetarian stuffed peppers or spiced mushroom pasta with tofu sauce.

Also, in case you have a batch of frozen mushrooms in your freezer, this might be an excellent opportunity to use them. Just take them out of the freezer the day before and leave them in the fridge overnight to thaw before you use them for this recipe.

Tamari: Tamari is a soy sauce from Japan but with less sodium and a thicker consistency than its Chinese “brother”. Tamari also has a lower content of wheat (<10%) than other soy sauces. You will find it in better-equipped supermarkets and speciality stores.

Close up of this delicious and creamy mushroom pâté with lentils.


Substitution options

Green lentils: You can easily go with French green or puy lentils, brown or black ones instead of green ones.

Mushrooms: Instead of oyster and shiitake, you can go for various mushrooms, from king oyster, cremini, white button mushrooms, or a combination of your own. In that case, the steaming time will be slightly different.

Shallots: Even though I think shallots are working perfectly in this recipe, you can substitute them with yellow or red onion.

Tamari: Instead of tamari, go for soy sauce but try to find the one with lower sodium content or simply use a little bit less of the classic soy sauce.


Searching for more snack ideas?

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Let me know if you try this recipe! Drop a comment and tag your photo with @stelasfoodstories on Instagram. I’d love to see your creations!

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Delicious mushroom pâté with lentils

Difficulty:

This crazy delicious vegan mushroom pâté with lentils is a sure winner for a weekend party night!......

Prep time 15

Cook time 30

Total time 45

Cutting board

Vegetable knife

Paring knife

Skillet pan

Steamer pot

Hand blender

Keep the screen ON

Servings:

4

Ingredients

15 ml or 1 tbsp olive oil

200 g mix of shiitake and oyster mushrooms

60 g shallots or yellow onion

1 garlic clove

40 g dry green lentils

30 g or 4 tbsp walnuts

30 ml or 2 tbsp water

15 ml or 1 tbsp tamari

garnish with spring onion and walnuts

Instructions

Step 1

Cover lentils in a small pot with water and bring to boil. When it starts boiling, sieve the lentils, add new water and heat up to a simmer. Use the ratio of water to lentils 2:1. Cook lentils for 15-18 minutes or until soft on a light simmer with a lid on. All the water will be soaked up. Leave it covered until you need it.

Complete step

Step 2

Finely dice a shallot. Peel the garlic and finely chop it.

How to

To peel garlic, the easiest way is to cut the top off and crush it with a knife. The peel will then come off so easy.

Note

There is one crucial rule when cooking with garlic. It is vital to chop, crush or mince it and leave it for 10 minutes away from heat. In that time, a compound called alliin will come in contact with a heat-sensitive enzyme alliinase, and the most valuable ingredient in garlic, allicin, will form.

Complete step

Step 3

Heat up water in a steamer pot. Use a damp cloth to clean mushrooms. Slice them thinly.

Complete step

Step 4

Toast walnuts in a pan over medium-high heat until lightly golden.

Complete step

Step 5

Steam mushrooms for 5 minutes. When ready, take them out into a bowl and cover. You want to retain all the moisture and juices inside.

Note

This method of cooking oyster and shiitake mushrooms shows the best preservation of their antioxidant activity.

Complete step

Step 6

Heat up olive oil in a large skillet pan. Add the shallot and sweat until translucent over low-medium heat, 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and continue for another 2-3 minutes, until fragrant.

Complete step

Step 7

First, blend walnuts. Then add mushrooms, lentils and tamari. Then throw in the rest of the ingredients, except spring onion, and blend until an even mixture is formed. Cool it down, garnish with finely sliced spring onion, coarsely chopped walnuts, and enjoy!

Complete step

How to store

Cover the mushroom pâté with a thin layer of oil to prevent oxidation and potential spoilage inside an airtight container. It will last in your fridge surely 3-5 days, maybe even longer.
You can even freeze it. Use it within 6 months. Thaw it inside your fridge!

Can’t wait for your comments and impressions on this super easy and delicious mushroom pâté. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
If you try it, share it with us on Instagram, but don’t forget the tag @stelasfoodstories!

*Stela’s Food Stories is a part of the Amazon Affiliates Program. If you make a purchase through one of our recommended links, we may earn a commission that will help us support the site and keep bringing you unique content.

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