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Vegetarian mushroom & port ‘faux gras’ with tarragon & chestnuts

Great for presents, these will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. I have been known to give these little bad boys away as part of a hamper at Christmas and they are good to have on hand, year round, as a really tasty snack.

Time from start to finish: 20 minutes (+ ideally 6 hours in the fridge)

Serves: 4

Equipment: Medium frying pan, food processor, 4 × 175ml ramekins

Oil

25g butter

2 shallots

3 garlic cloves

500g chestnut mushrooms

4 tbsp port (optional)

2 sprigs of fresh tarragon

100g cooked chestnuts (available vac packed or tinned from the supermarket)

300g cream cheese

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Your favourite bread, crackers or breadsticks, to serve

+ Put a drizzle of oil and the butter in a medium frying pan over a low heat.

+ Peel and finely chop the shallots and garlic and add to the pan. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring now and again, until soft and slightly golden.

+ Finely slice the mushrooms. Add them to the pan along with the port, if using, and season with salt and pepper. Turn up the heat to medium and cook for 8 minutes, or until the mushrooms have softened and all their liquid has evaporated.

+ Meanwhile, pick the leaves from one sprig of tarragon, divide the other sprig into four smaller pieces and then roughly chop the chestnuts.

+ Tip the cooked mushroom mixture into a food processor with the chestnuts, individual leaves of tarragon and the cream cheese. Blitz for a few minutes until really smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Have a taste of it and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

+ Divide between the ramekins, smooth their tops and place a tarragon sprig on top of each to decorate. Arrange them on a small tray or plate, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight. You can also serve these straight away, but their texture will be much softer and flavour not so intense. Serve with your favourite bread, crackers or breadsticks.