I know I orginally found this pate recipe online somewhere, way back in the day. Now it seems it’s reprinted almost everywhere.

Experiment with this dish. My mother-in-law, Carol, wraps the cooked pate in layers of phyllo pastry and bakes it to make pate “pockets”. I have used the raw pate as a layer in lasagna (it bakes while the lasagna bakes), and it is incredible. I haven’t tried it yet, but I suspect using the cooked pate in homemade ravioli or tortellini, or gyoza (Japanese dumplings) would be especially good. Otherwise, just serve it out with your favourite crackers or in sandwiches. Yum!

1 cup finely ground sunflower seeds
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup engevita yeast (or other nutritional yeast — not brewers)
3 tsp dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp sea kelp*

1 cup finely grated potato
1 1/3 cups water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp prepared horseradish or dijon mustard

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Grate the potato and rinse it thoroughly in a fine sieve to remove all the starch (As you are rinsing, some foam will appear — the foam is the starch. Continue rinsing until no foam remains.) Squeeze and drain the grated, rinsed potato until it is very dry. Add the remaining ingredients in the order given, stirring in the potato last. (If you want to make this a layer in lasagna, DO NOT BAKE IT as directed below, but pour directly into your lasagna pan raw.)

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Generously oil a 9″ pie plate and pour the pate mixture into it. Place in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 350 F. Bake 35-45 minutes until well-browned (but still wet-looking in the centre; my oven cooks it in 30-35 minutes, so keep your eye on it).

Let the pate cool for an hour, then chill it thoroughly before serving to let it set completely. It is tastiest served at room temperature, however. This also freezes well — cut it into wedges and wrap in plastic wrap.

*Powdered kelp is a dried seaweed rich in minerals and used as a nutritional supplement. You can find it in your local natural foods store.