Homemade Strasbourg-style Pâté en Croûte
A home kitchen adaptation of the classic Strasbourg pâté — no foie gras, but the same principle: spiced, cognac-scented forcemeat baked inside a golden pastry crust and sliced cold.
Ingredients
- 400 gchicken livers, trimmed and cleaned
- 300 gchicken breast
- 300 gpork neck or fatty shoulder
- 150 mlheavy cream, 30% fat
- 2 eggs
- 1 white onion
- 2 clovesgarlic
- 2 tbspcognac or brandy
- 1 tsptruffle oil
- 0.5 tspground nutmeg
- 0.5 tspdried thyme
- 1.5 tspfine salt
- 0.5 tspblack pepper
- 3 tbspfine breadcrumbs
- 400 gall-butter puff pastry
- 1 egg
Method
- Cook the aromatics. Heat oil, cook onion 8–10 min until golden, add garlic 1 min. Cool completely.
- Build the forcemeat. Grind chicken and pork (medium die). Blend livers smooth. Combine, add cream, eggs, cooled onion, cognac, truffle oil and the spices (nutmeg, thyme, salt, pepper). Fry a test spoonful. Finally stir in the breadcrumbs: they soak up the liquid from the livers and cream, so the cold slices hold together.
- Line a 25×10 cm loaf tin with 2/3 of pastry (3–4 mm thick), 2 cm overhang. Chill 15 min.
- Fill firmly, smooth top. Cover with remaining pastry, seal edges. Egg wash. Make 2 steam holes, insert foil chimneys.
- Bake at 180°C for 60–70 min until deep golden. Internal temp must reach 72°C.
- Cool 30 min in tin, then chill minimum 6 hours (overnight better). Slice cold.
FAQ
Usually too-coarse grind. Combine methods: grind chicken/pork, blend livers smooth. Use 30% cream. 6-hour chill is essential.
Place on lowest rack or preheated sheet. Brush pastry inside with egg white. Center must reach 72°C.
Yes. Beef liver (soak in milk 1–2h). Pork liver is milder. Or skip liver entirely: use 700g chicken+pork mix.
Fridge 4–5 days wrapped. Sliced: 3 days. Freezes 1 month whole. Thaw in fridge overnight.
Without them, steam separates pastry from filling. Foil chimneys keep channels open throughout baking.
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Comments (1)
Salt the chicken livers at least 30 minutes before cooking homemade strasbourg-style pâté en croûte, or right before — never in between. Salt draws moisture to the surface; given 30+ minutes it reabsorbs. At 10 minutes, it's just sitting there making things wet.