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
Preparation
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.
