Pâté Berrichon is a visually delightful centrepiece of a French Easter menu. Pork, veal, and whole eggs wrapped in pasty. An easy dish to make with the eggs taking centre stage of this traditional French Easter food.
If you want to add a little French flair to Easter lunch this year, you can't get more traditional than Pâté Berrichon. This is a traditional Easter dish from the Berry region in France.
Not a pâté as you may think, made from chicken or duck livers, this resembles a pork and veal terrine wrapped in pastry. Or even a giant sausage roll stuffed with eggs. In France, pâté refers to a cooked dish using minced/ground meat.
Most recipes use puff pastry to encase the filling. You can do this too, it makes the dish super easy. Instead, I wanted a boulangerie finish similar to Lou Lou's in Sydney, or a boulangerie in France.
Sara xxx
What's in this post
Quick Pâté Berrichon FAQs
This Easter pie will take 90 minutes to make and bake. 30 minutes of preparation and 1 hour baking time.
In theory, yes you could half this recipe, or make smaller individual pies. But the whole essence of a Berrichon Easter Pâté or Easter pâté de Pâques is that it is a French Easter dish shared with family.
It is best eaten on the day of preparation. It can be served straight from the oven, warm or cold. The Berrichon pie will keep for a few days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Ingredients
A full printable recipe card can be found at the end of this post with recipe ingredient measurements and the method.
- Pastry: I use a good quality store-bought shortcrust pastry for this recipe, sour cream shortcrust pastry from Carême. If you don't want to use a tin to bake the pie in you could use puff pastry.
- Ground Pork & Veal: Mince pork from either the shoulder or belly, and minced veal from the shoulder. If you cannot eat pork use 1 kg of veal mince.
- Shallots: Shallots can be substituted with 1 small white onion.
- Garlic: 2 garlic bulbs can be substituted with 2 teaspoons of prepared minced garlic.
- Cognac: Can be substituted with brandy. Or leave it out to make this dish alcohol free.
- Herbs: Traditionally parsley was used. I have made my Pâté Berrichon a little more fragrant and added tarragon and thyme in addition to parsley.
- Spices: Ground nutmeg and pepper are the key spices.
- Eggs: Hard boil a couple of extra eggs than the recipe suggests to allow for breakage and peeling "accidents".
What to Serve with Berrichon Pie
In France an Easter lunch would celebrate seasonal springtime offerings. There would be lots of egg dishes, pastry, salad, and a lamb dish. Below are a few ideas for a complete French Easter lunch.
- Matt Moran's family recipe for slow cooked lamb shoulder (omit the hummus)
- Pork, Duck and Fig Terrine
- Bacon and Egg Pie
- Leafy Green Garden Salad
- Roasted Dutch Carrots
- Baked or Air Fryer Asparagus Bundles
- Petits Pois a la Francaise, French Peas
How to Make Pâte Berrichon
Scroll to the bottom of the page for the complete method and printable recipe.
Boil the Eggs
The first step in this recipe is boiling the eggs for the centre of the Easter pie. Boil them and set them aside to cool. You could boil them the day before to save time and store them in the fridge
Pork and Veal Filling
The pork and veal filling is easy to prepare. Place all the filling ingredients into a large bowl and mix to combine. It is best to use your hands. I use disposable gloves, but that is up to you.
Pastry
Shortcrust Pastry: If using shortcrust pastry like I have, layer the base and sides of the baking tin. Set aside a piece large enough to place on top of the filled pie for its lid.
Puff Pastry: Using puff pastry makes this dish easier to assemble. Lay one piece of puff pastry on a lined baking tray. Add the filling, then top with another sheet of puff pastry and seal.
Filling the Pie
Place a layer of the pork and veal filling in the prepared tin. Arrange the hard boiled eggs on top in a row down the centre of the pie. Then top with the remaining meat mixture. Place a layer of pastry on top, seal, and brush with egg wash.
Printable Recipe
Pâté Berrichon (French Berrichon Easter Pie)
Ingredients
- 5 hard boiled eggs (boil a couple of spares)
- 1 sheet shortcrust pastry (48cm x 27cm x 2.5mm) (see notes)
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
Pâté Berrichon Filling
- 600 g minced/ground pork (from shoulder or belly)
- 400 g minced/ground veal (shoulder)
- 3 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped tarragon
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme leaves
- 1 egg (whisked)
- 1½ tablespoon plain flour
- 3 tablespoon cognac (or brandy)
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180°C/ 360°F
Pâtê Berrichon Filling
- In a large bowl add all the filling ingredients.
- Mix until completely combined. It is best to use your hands for this step, disposable gloves are an option.
Assembling the Pie (see notes for puff pastry version)
- Line the bottom of a 12cm x 28cm (5.5 x 11.5 inch) baking tin with a piece of parchment paper.
- Line the bottom and sides of the tin with pastry. (do not grease the tin)
- Reserve a 12cm x 28cm (5.5 x 11.5 inch) rectangle of pastry for the top of the pie.
- Spread ⅓ of the meat filling over the bottom of the pastry.
- Top the meat filling with a row of hard boiled eggs.
- Cover the eggs with the remaining meat filling. Make sure to push the filling down gently around the eggs to completely encase them.
- Place the reserved piece of pastry on top of the pie. Crimp the edges together to seal the pie.
- Using a knife make a couple of small incisions into the pastry top to allow for steam to escape.
- Brush the top of the pie with whisked egg.
Baking
- Place the Pâté Berrichon in the oven and bake for approximatley 1 hour until golden brown and cooked through.
- While the pie is cooking juices may be released through the slits in the pastry pie top. Carefully (it will be hot) use some kitchen paper to mop up this excess liquid from the top of the pie and continue baking.The liquid is released from the meat, this will vary on what cut, and the quality of the meat used.
- Once cooked serve straight from the oven, or allow it to cool and serve warm.
Oven Temperatures
All oven temperatures are fan forced.
Measurement Notes
All measurements are Australian metric standard. All measures are level, and cups are lightly packed unless specified. 1 teaspoon = 5ml / 1 tablespoon = 20mls / 1 cup = 250ml /4 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon.
Recipe Notes
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
The recipe's nutritional information is an approximation based on an online calculator. It is meant solely for reference purposes. If you're looking for precise details, be sure to double-check with your own research.
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