100g veal shoulder
400g minced veal and pork
1 shallot
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp thyme
4 tbsp parsley, chopped
a good pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp salt
80ml white wine
2 eggs
pepper
For the puff pastry:
250g butter, cold
250g flour
1 tsp salt
150g cream cheese
Makes 4 little patés – Prep: 45min – Overnight marinating – Oven: 35min
Make the filling a day ahead: Cut the veal into small cubes and put in a bowl with the minced veal and pork. Peel and finely chop the shallot, peel and crush the garlic. Add to the bowl with the thyme, parsley, nutmeg, salt and wine. Mix with your hands until everything is evenly combined. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
For the puff pastry: Cut the butter into cubes and put into a food processor with the flour and salt. Blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the cream cheese and blitz again so that a dough ball forms. Shape the dough into two disks and wrap in cling film. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
The next day, add one egg and some pepper to the marinated meat and mix with a spoon until evenly combined.
Roll out one chilled dough on a well-floured surface to a rectangle, then cut into 4 squares. Put the pastry squares onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Distribute the meat over the 4 pastry squares, then fold over the long sides. Beat the egg in a little bowl and brush the short pastry sides with the egg, then fold over – you will still see the meat, as the pastry won’t cover the top.
Roll out the second puff pastry and cut into 4 squares. Score a criss-cross pattern into each rectangle, then cut out a round hole from the middle of each.
Brush the pastry rim around the exposed meat with beaten egg, then put the pastry rectangles on top of the meat pastries, tucking in the excess pastry below. Brush the pastry tops with the beaten egg.
Refrigerate the pastries for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220°C.
After 30 minutes, bake the pastries in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200°C and bake for a further 25 minutes. There will be some liquid leaking out from the top holes.
When the pastries are done baking, lift them onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before serving.
These will keep in the fridge for 3 days. Eat cold.
