Rustic Pâté-Croûte recipe by Grégory Faye

This season, I’d like to present a dish I love to make, the pâté-croûte, which has taken me to international competitions in New York and France. For the past two years (2024 will be the 3rd), I’ve been organizing the North American final of the World Pâté-Croûte Championship here in Montréal. The last edition took place where I used to work, the HONEYROSE Hotel Montréal. Let me share with you a recipe that you can make at home, with a rustic-style stuffing you can make yourself. This Rustic Pâté-Croûte will be a lovely fall or holiday challenge!

Rustic Pâté-Croûte by Grégory Faye

SERVES 12-15 PEOPLE

Rustic Pâté-Croûte Dough (to be made one night in advance)

•  14g of white vinegar
•  150g of lukewarm water
•  5g of caster sugar
•  20g of fine salt
•  80g of whole eggs
•  450g of softened butter (I recommend the Bordier variety)
•  500g of flour
•  350g of cornstarch

1. Mix all liquids, eggs and softened butter. 
2. Stir in flour and cornstarch.
3. Roll out the dough gently into a rectangle and refrigerate for 24 hours.
4. Roll out the dough to 6 mm and cut rectangles to fit into the pâté-croûte mould*. Don’t forget the top layer parts. Take your mold to measure your dough and keep the dough at 17 to 20°C, otherwise your butter will melt. 
5. Brush your mold with softened butter– it should stick to the sides. Don’t forget the edges. 
6. Seal the mould by rolling the edges over.
7. Cut your dough for the bottom and sides into a single piece.
   Fold it in half and unfold it in the mould. Press the dough into the corners to shape a nice straight angle. 
8. For the sides, wet the bottom of the dough. Overlap the piece of dough to form the corner. Do the same on the other side.

* The 35 cm-long mould for the Rustic Pâté-Croûte is available from specialists in France and from a number of online stores. (At Design et Réalisation & Amazon).

You can see all the Rustic Pâté-Croûte steps on video (in french), below by La petite bette by Manon Lapierre and Lionel du Souich (lapetitebette.com).

The Rustic Stuffing

•  680g of Gaspor pork loin
•  320g of Gaspor pork belly
•  200g of chicken
•  200g of Rougié duck foie gras
•  200g of chicken liver
•  35g of caramelized shallots
•  160g of flat-leaf parsley
•  80g of eggs
•  100g of oyster mushrooms
•  100g of button mushrooms
•  21g of sodium nitrite
•  5g of sugar
•  3g of ground Malabar pepper
•  28g of Calvados
•  50g of Sicilian pistachios

1. Cut the meat into 1 cm cubes.
2. Marinate with salt, pepper and Calvados.
3. Marinate for 24 hours.
4. Marinate chicken livers with half the lemon juice, 5g of nitrite salt and 1g of pepper. 
5. Marinate for 24 hours.
6. Sauté the mushrooms in butter and canola oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove and drain.
7. Chop parsley finely.
8. Brown the shallots for 4 minutes in the microwave. Peel and chop finely.

48 h later

1. Chop a quarter of the stuffing with a number 6 chopper or with a knife.
2. Sauté the chicken livers and mince into the stuffing.
3. Add the eggs and mix well until the mixture forms filaments.
4. Crush the pistachios and add them to the mixture.
5. Add the candied shallots and mushrooms.

Rustic Pâté-Croûte Initial Assembly

1. Place the dough in small bundles in your raw dough mould. 
2. Since this is a rustic stuffing, be sure to pack your stuffing well
   to prevent holes. 
3. Make your way to the edge. 

The Hat of the Rustic Pâté-Croûte

1. Pick up the leftover hat dough.
2. Wet the mould dough with water. Only moisten the dough of the dish, not the hat. 
3. Place the dough on top and seal by pinching tightly between the two. 
4. Turn the pâté-croûte upside down to seal well.
5. Cut off the excess, leaving half a centimetre. 
6. Turn the whole thing upside down. 
7. Seal with a downward angle.

The decoration of the Rustic Pâté-Croûte

1. Chisel (make small cuts) all along the crust using tweezers. Press lightly downwards. Pinch the corners firmly to form a nice tip.
2. Take one egg yolk with water – about 5% of the weight of the egg – and a little salt to help the colouring. Mix well. 
3. Brown the entire pâté-croûte.
4. Refrigerate the pâté-croûte for 1 hour to dry out the egg yolk.
5. Use a shot glass to make 4 circles, then make another circle in the center to obtain 4 doughnuts. 
6. Cut oval shapes in the dough to form leaves. Pinch the ends to give them a pointy shape.
7. Brown the items and cut the leaf details – straight lines and perpendicular lines – with the back of the knife into the gilding. 
8. To make a wheat sheet, roll out a piece of dough about 3 inches thick and use floured scissors (optional) to score 3 of the 4 sides.
9. Store everything in the fridge with the pâté-croûte. 
10.  Brush the pâté-croûte and the various elements with the remaining egg yolk.
11. Place your doughnuts and other items on top of the pâté-croûte. Make holes in your doughnut holes (you should be able to see the inside of the rustic pâté-croûte). 

The Chimneys 

1. Fold aluminum foil over in order to make it rigid. 
2. Wrap it around a pencil. Repeat to create 4 chimneys of 2 to 3 inches
   in height.
3. Insert the chimneys into the « doughnuts » of the pâté-croûte.

The Cooking of The Rustic Pâté-Croûte

1. Bake for 20 minutes at 410° F/210° C. Turn halfway through cooking.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 385° F/180°C for an additional 40 minutes. Internal temperature must reach 75° C.

The Jelly of the Rustic Pâté-Croûte

•  150g of poultry stock
•  150g of veal stock
•  600g of water
•  1kg of button mushrooms
•  1 sprig of thyme
•  1 sprig of rosemary
•  2 garlic cloves
•  1 bunch of parsley stems
•  5g of salt
•  28g of Calvados

1. Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish. Cook on the stovetop at 185° F/85° C for 12 hrs.
2. Strain the stock and freeze it.
3. Thaw in a dish towel and boil. 
4. Add 8 sheets of gelatine.

Finishing of the Rustic Pâté-Croûte

1. Pretend to turn the pâté-croûte halfway through while it is still warm. Test the crust later to make sure it sticks. 
2. Add the jelly to the holes left by the chimneys using a funnel. As soon as the liquid rises, wait. 
3. Leave to rest for 30 minutes. 
4. Repeat 2 to 3 times. 
5. Place the pâté-croûte in the refrigerator overnight.

The Unmolding of the Rustic Pâté-Croûte

1. Whenever you are ready to serve (serve cold), place your pâté-croûte in the oven at 350°F/175°C for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. If necessary, give it a blowtorch.
3. This operation involves melting the butter so thatthe pâté-croûte can be removed from the mould.
4. Remove the hinges and cut halfway through the pâté, between the decorations. Subsequently, cut into ¾-inch (2 cm) slices.
5. Serve.

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The final of the Americas of The Championnat du Monde de Pâté-Croûte takes place on October 7 in Montréal. Buy your tickets now! The final of the Championnat du Monde de Pâté-Croûte will be held on December 4, 2024, in Lyon, France. A chance to taste some Rustic Pâté-Croûte and more awesome ones.

This recipe was originally published on the Gentologie Magazine Issue 12