Pashtet iz Kvasoli (паштет із квасолі, white bean pâté)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A heavy saucepan for the beans
• •A wide frying pan for the zasmazhka
• •A potato masher or food processor
• •A shallow serving bowl

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the beans

   If you're using dried beans, cover them with plenty of cold water and leave them overnight. They should swell and lose that little stone-hard look. Drain them before cooking. If you're using tinned beans, rinse them, then warm them gently later with a splash of water and the bay leaf so they don't go into the mash cold.

   Tinned beans make a good weekday pashtet. Warm beans drink the onion oil better than cold ones, and that is the whole point.
2. 2

   Cook until tender

   Put the soaked beans in a pot with the bay leaf and cover with fresh water by a few fingers. Bring them up slowly, then keep them at a gentle burble until the skins loosen and one bean smears easily against the side of the pot. It should sound soft, not rattly. Salt lightly only once the beans are tender, then scoop out and save a mug of the cooking liquid before draining.

3. 3

   Make the zasmazhka

   Pour the sunflower oil into a wide pan and add the onions with a pinch of salt. Cook them low and slow until they turn soft gold and the smell changes from sharp to sweet. Add the grated carrot and cook until it melts into the onion, then stir in the garlic for the last minute only, just until it wakes up.

   Do not burn the garlic. Sweet onion is supper; black garlic is bitterness, and it will shout through the whole bowl.
4. 4

   Mash it warm

   Tip the warm beans into a bowl or food processor, remove the bay leaf, and add the hot zasmazhka with all its oil. Mash by hand for a rougher spread, or pulse in short bursts for a smoother one. Add saved bean liquid spoon by spoon until it loosens into a thick pâté that holds a spoon mark. Stir in the pepper and enough salt to make the beans taste awake.

   If it tastes flat, it usually needs salt before it needs more garlic. If it feels heavy, add bean liquid before more oil.
5. 5

   Sharpen and rest

   Taste it while warm, then add one spoon of fermented cucumber brine or sauerkraut brine if the bowl needs lifting. Let it sit for at least a short while so the garlic settles into the beans. Taste again. Garlic grows as it stands, the little show-off, so stop just before you think it is perfect if you're serving it tomorrow.

6. 6

   Serve the bowl

   Spoon the pashtet into a shallow bowl, drag the back of a spoon through the top, and pour a little green sunflower oil into the ridges. Scatter with dill and black pepper. Put out rye bread, pickled cucumbers, and whatever fermented jar is open. Enough for eight guests or one hungry Ukrainian.

Chef Tips

• •Old beans are not a character test; they may simply refuse to soften. Buy from a shop with good turnover, and if they still fight after a long simmer, use tins and keep your evening.
• •The onion step is where the flavor lives. Let it go soft and golden, not dark and bitter, because that sweetness has to carry the whole spread.
• •Unrefined sunflower oil matters here because you taste it raw at the end. It is Ukraine in a bottle of oil, green-gold, nutty, and much louder than neutral oil.
• •Walnuts are a good western-style addition: toast a small handful, chop them fine, and mash them in for body. A bit more modern on my table, and very welcome.
• •Make it ahead, but go gently with garlic if it will sit overnight. Garlic gets stronger in the fridge while you sleep.

Advance Preparation

• •Dried beans need an overnight soak, at least 8 hours. If you start with tinned beans, the whole dish becomes a quick supper-board spread.
• •The finished pashtet keeps 3 days in the fridge. Press a little sunflower oil over the surface, cover well, and taste again before serving because cold dulls salt.
• •Bring it close to room temperature before serving. Cold bean paste is shy; a little warmth lets the onion oil speak.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 215g)