Hazelnut Sage Pate Food

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT PULL-APART BREAD

Steps:

• For the whipped cream: Add the cream, liqueur and confectioners' sugar to a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Whip on high speed until soft peaks form. Hold in the refrigerator until ready to serve, up to 3 hours. (Makes 2 cups.)
• For the pull-apart bread: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until light golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely. Finely chop and set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix together the granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
• Lightly brush the loaf pan with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving at least 2 inches of overhang on the long sides to serve as handles later. Lightly brush the parchment with melted butter, then dust the entire pan with 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture; reserve the remaining cinnamon sugar. Tap out any excess sugar from the pan.
• Unroll one tube of bread dough on a very lightly floured work surface. The dough should form a 12-by-15-inch rectangle; stretch the dough a bit if small. With the long side parallel to you, spread the dough with 2/3 cup of the chocolate hazelnut spread, leaving a 1/4-inch boarder. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and then with 1/4 cup of the chopped hazelnuts.
• Unroll the second tube of dough and lay it on top of the first. Brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with the reserved cinnamon sugar mixture.
• With a ruler and a chef's knife, mark the short side of the dough at 4-inch intervals. Cutting parallel to you, slice the dough straight across at each mark, into three 4-inch-wide strips. Next, mark the long side of the dough at 3-inch intervals and cut the dough, perpendicular to you, along those marks; you will now have fifteen 3-by-4-inch rectangles.
• Evenly stack three of the rectangles on top of each other so that the bottom piece of dough, without any sugar on it, lays against a piece of dough that does have sugar on it. Place the stack of dough into the loaf pan on its 4-inch side so that the dough fills the width of the pan. Continue stacking pieces of dough and placing the stacks in the loaf pan until all of the rectangles are inside the pan. As you go, you may have to use one hand to hold up the dough already in the pan and gently push it back to make room for all of the dough.
• Using a pairing knife, cut the dough in the loaf pan lengthwise down the middle, cutting three-quarters of the way through, essentially splitting the dough in half. Place the pan on a baking sheet, cover with foil and bake for 55 to 60 minutes. The bread is done when the entire loaf has turned a deep golden brown and the sugar is caramelized and bubbling up the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes.
• While the bread cools, whisk together the remaining 1 tablespoon chocolate hazelnut spread and the heavy cream in a bowl until smooth. Hold at room temperature until ready to serve.
• Remove the bread from the loaf pan while still warm, so the caramel does not completely set. Use a bread knife to loosen the sides of the bread that does not have parchment and then lift the bread out of the pan using the parchment handles. Remove the parchment and place the pull-apart bread on a serving tray. Drizzle with the chocolate hazelnut drizzle and sprinkle with the remaining chopped hazelnuts. Serve with the hazelnut whipped cream.

BAKED SAUSAGE AND HAZELNUT-CHOCOLATE PANINI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, cook sausages until all sides are brown. Slice lengthwise.
• Slice bread lengthwise and spread bottoms with hazelnut chocolate spread. Store the remaining chocolate hazelnut spread in a cool dry place.
• Place sausages on hazelnut chocolate spread. Bake sandwich in oven until bread is lightly toasted.

HAZELNUT & SAGE PATE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degree F
• Place hazelnuts and sesame seeds on 2 seperate baking trays and lightly roast in oven 5-10 minutes; when hazelnuts are cool, rub off the skins.
• In a food processor, grind nuts and seeds together until they resemble fine crumbs (if you prefer a coarse pate, grind half nuts and seeds fine and grind the other half coarsely).
• In a large bowl beat together the cream cheese, garlic, salt, pepper, sage and oil.
• Add nut and seed mixture, combining well.
• Add the milk to get a moist consistency (the mixture should be fairly wet because the nuts will absorb some liquid).
• Place mixture in ramekins or other desired mold and chill until set.
• Serve chilled in ramekins or with small individual salads with toast.

BUTTERNUT, SAGE & HAZELNUT QUICHE

Steps:

• To make the pastry, put the flour, 50g hazelnuts and ½ tsp salt into a food processor. Give it a quick pulse to disperse the nuts through the flour, then add the butter and blitz until the mixture resembles rough breadcrumbs. Add the egg and 3 tbsp ice-cold water, and blitz again until the pastry is just coming together - if the pastry feels dry, add a tbsp more water and pulse again. Flatten into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 mins until firm.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Melt the butter in a frying pan. Once foaming, add the sage leaves and fry for a min or so until crisp. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon and set aside. Mix the oil with the butter in the pan. Put the squash chunks in a roasting tin, sprinkle over the chilli flakes and some seasoning, then pour over the butter mixture. Toss together so that all the pieces of squash are coated, then roast for 35 mins until tender but holding their shape. Set aside to cool.
• Roll the pastry into a circle roughly 3mm thick on a floured surface, then use it to line a deep 25cm tart tin. Prick the base all over with a fork, then return to the fridge for 20 mins to firm up, or chill it in the freezer for a few minutes.
• Meanwhile, chop three-quarters of the sage leaves. Whisk the cream with the milk and eggs in a bowl until combined, add a good grating of nutmeg, season well, then stir through the feta, cooled squash and chopped sage.
• Line the pastry with baking parchment, fill with baking beans or dried rice and bake for 15 mins until the sides of the pastry are holding their shape. Remove the paper and beans and bake for 10 mins more until the pastry is lightly golden. Reduce the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.
• Pour the quiche filling into the pastry case, then scatter over the rest of the hazelnuts and sage leaves. Return to the oven for 40-50 mins or until the filling is just set. Cool to room temperature before serving.

HAZELNUT PASTE

Steps:

• Coarsely chop the hazelnuts.
• In a food processor or blender, finely grind about 1/3 of the nuts at a time, until mealy.
• Add egg whites, powdered sugar and liqueur.
• Blend until paste forms.
• Wrap and store in a covered container, up to 2 weeks.