Makes 700ml

The cranberry glaze looks stunning and the tartness from the berries cuts through the richness of the pâté. To make it last an extra couple of days, substitute the glaze with a butter seal.

25g dried porcini mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
2 banana shallots, finely chopped
500g mixture of wild fresh mushrooms, cleaned
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
100g ricotta
150ml crème fraîche
100g toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

For the cranberry glaze

250g fresh or frozen cranberries
60g caster sugar
Splash of water
4 tbsp redcurrant jelly

1 Put the porcini mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak for 15 minutes, then drain. Squeeze out as much water from the mushrooms as possible, then chop roughly.

2 Heat the oil in a large frying pan and sauté the shallots for 10 minutes over a low heat until soft and translucent. Roughly chop the fresh mushrooms and add them to the pan, along with the porcini, garlic and some salt and pepper. Cook over a moderate heat for 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft and lightly golden and any moisture has bubbled away. Tip everything onto a plate and leave to cool.

3 Put the mushroom mixture into a food processor with half the lemon juice, the ricotta and the crème fraîche and blend until smooth. Add the walnuts and pulse briefly again. Fold in the parsley, then check for seasoning, adding more lemon juice, salt and pepper as necessary. Spoon into a dish or ramekins, cover and chill until firm.

4 Meanwhile, make the cranberry glaze. Put the cranberries in a pan and sprinkle with sugar. Add a splash of water and cook over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and cook for 3-4 minutes until tender but before the skins start to split. Strain the berries through a sieve and collect the juices.

5 In a separate pan, melt the redcurrant jelly with the reserved cranberry juices, watching that it does not boil. Arrange the cooled cranberries neatly on top of the mushroom pâté and brush thickly with the redcurrant glaze. The pâté will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.

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