Rich pork pâté

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Run the liver under cold water, then trim, removing any tough membrane. Chop roughly. Heat half the butter in a pan and gently cook the onion and garlic for about 8 minutes until starting to soften. Transfer to a bowl. Heat the remaining butter and fry the liver and bacon for 5-6 minutes until golden. Set aside to cool.
2. Increase the heat and deglaze the pan: add the Madeira and bubble, stirring, until the pan residue is released. Tip into the bowl with the onion. Add the sage, parsley, cayenne, breadcrumbs, white pepper and a good pinch of salt. Mix well.
3. In a food processor, pulse the pork belly with the cooled liver and bacon until finely chopped, giving a textured but not too coarse pâté. Transfer to the mixing bowl and mix with the other ingredients. Fold through the pistachio kernels.
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4. After testing the flavour, divide evenly among 4 x 200ml sterilised Kilner jars (see tips on sterilising, below), gently pressing down and smoothing over the top. Lay a bay leaf on top of each and clip the Kilner jars closed.
5. Put the Kilner jars in a deep roasting tin and pour in boiling water to come halfway up the jars’ sides. Cook in the oven for about 1¼ hours until the pâté begins to shrink away from the sides of the jars. Remove from the roasting tin and leave to cool. Once cold, you can refrigerate the pâté for up to 1 week. Maturing it for a few days allows the flavours to mingle and develop. Remove the pâté from the fridge 15 minutes before serving, to allow it to reach room temperature.