Pasztet wielkanocny
Polish Easter Pâté- Yield
- One 9 x 5-inch loaf, about 2 1/2 lb; 16 slices
- Active
- 1 hour
- Total
- 3 hours 30 minutes, plus overnight chilling
- Difficulty
- Medium
The story
Pasztet, a baked loaf of ground pork and liver, belongs to the cold part of the Polish Easter table, where it shares the platters with ham, sausages, cold roast meats and stuffed eggs. Polish cooking pages call it an Easter classic that many families consider essential, and it is served with horseradish or cranberry sauce.
The method is practical. The meat is first simmered with vegetables, bay leaf and allspice until tender, then ground, bound with eggs and baked in a loaf pan. Polish recipes combine lean pork with a fattier cut such as bacon and with liver, which Przepisy.pl calls essential for a velvety texture; here pork shoulder is paired with pork belly. A stale roll soaked in the cooking broth helps hold it together, as in many Polish home recipes.
Because it has to cool and set, pasztet is one of the dishes Polish households prepare before the holiday, often a day ahead, along with salads and roasts. Bake it on Good Friday, March 26, or Holy Saturday, March 27, 2027, and slice it cold on Easter morning with ćwikła and rye bread.
Ingredients and method
The full recipe, with US and metric measures and stand-ins for hard-to-find ingredients, is part of the Easter edition. Buy it once and keep the PDF.
Want to try first? Barszcz biały is free to cook.