Harvard Common Press

HCP Dishes!

Recipe of the Day:

White Bean and Rosemary Pâté

Sunday March 15, 2009

I love this recipe. Not solely because of the way the pureed white beans cozy up to the rosemary, and not just because it’s so simple to put together, but also because I get to say, “I’m serving a white bean and rosemary pâté for a snack tonight,” which is purely a riot if you affect a jokingly snooty accent. What isn’t a riot is if you forget to pick up a loaf of crusty French bread to serve with the pâté. No one wants to use their fingers—at least not early in the evening.

Overview

• Serves 6

Ingredients

• One 15.5-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• French bread slices for serving

Instructions

1. Put the white beans, rosemary, 2 1/2 tablespoons of the oil, the pepper, and about 1 tablespoon water in a food processor or powerful blender. Process or blend until fairly smooth, with no big bean chunks visible.
2. Pour and scrape the pâté (with the help of a spatula—it’s smooth, but thick) into a medium-size bowl that matches the attitude of the situation. Drizzle the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil on top. Serve alongside a basket of sliced bread.

A Note: On the rosemary, the fresher the better. If you can pull a few sprigs out of your (or your neighbor’s) garden, great. Be sure to mince it, though, so that it mixes well into the white beans.

A Drink Pairing: Stick with understated elegance and serve this with a Pink Princess. To make one, add 1 ounce gin and 1/2 ounce grenadine to a cocktail shaker that’s halfway full of ice cubes. Shake and strain into a flute. Top off with Champagne.

Print or online media may reprint this recipe with the following attribution: “Excerpted from Party Snacks, by A.J Rathbun, © 2008, and used by permission of The Harvard Common Press.”