Not only is this pâté delicious, it’s super healthy! The sunflower seeds are soaked overnight, making them a better source of easily digestible protein. Then it’s just a few pulses in the food processor until creamy with some basil, olive oil, lemon juice, salt/pepper, agave and red peppers (roasted or raw). Super easy.

So what’s soaking the seeds have to do with it? Well, seeds and nuts contain enzyme inhibitors that, in nature, ensure the seed or nut only begins to sprout when the weather conditions are favorable (warm and damp in springtime). By soaking seeds and nuts in the warmth of your home, you can break down these enzyme inhibitors, releasing more nutritious and making the seeds easier to digest.

Sunflower seeds are loaded Vitamin E, a fat-soluble vitamin and antioxidant found in many foods, fats, and oils. Vitamin E it is said to destroy free radicals (harmful compounds in the body that damage DNA and cause cell death) which are believed to contribute to aging as well as the development of a number of health problems, including heart disease and cancer. Antioxidant rich foods, like sunflower seeds, provide some protection against these conditions and can help reduce the damage caused by toxic chemicals and pollutants.

Because vitamin E helps break down fat, it should be an especially welcomed snack for the holiday season!

This pâté is great on all kinds of breads, chips and crackers. We also like to use as a spread on sandwiches. It’s fantastic with sharp cheeses and a really nice as a dip for veggies (smear it on some cucumber slices). Oh yea, and it’s awesome with avocado on a rice cracker or piece of toasted bread!

* Note: I’ve modified the recipe since its original post date.
I’ve done a couple batches using raw red peppers and it’s great, but I recently tried it with roasted red peppers and happen to like that a bit better. The roasted red pepper gives a richer, smokier flavor and I think it makes for a creamier, sturdier texture too. If you’re going to use raw red peppers, I recommend using the miniature sweet ones (you often see them sold in packs of orange, yellow and red together) because they are more flavorful and contain less water than regular red bell peppers.

This is a skillet sauce, meaning it comes together rather easily in a pan and doesn’t require all the slow simmering most sauces do for their flavors to really develop. It’ll be done in like 15 minutes – and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how dynamic the flavor becomes in that amount of time.

The flavor is strong and sharp. You taste the natural saltiness of the anchovies along with the acidity of the capers in every bite. There’s a certain sweetness at work too – I can only assume it’s from the anchovies again and the cooked-down onions.

You can choose to use either anchovy paste or canned/jarred anchovies. Anchovy paste, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, is puréed anchovies in a tube. I happened to have a tube of paste so I used that. I don’t really notice a difference between the two so just use the paste if you don’t feel like dealing with the fillets. I’ve included the measurements for both options in the recipe.

Traditionally, most anchovy sauces just call for olive oil or butter, garlic, salt and pepper and herbs. And that’s what I was originally going for here, but then at the last minute I got an uncontrollable urge to throw a few tomatoes in there. Good decision I think. This was the best sauce I’ve made in a while. As we ate, we kept commenting on how balanced it tasted. I think that was everything rounded out by the smoothness of that butter and onion base. Give it a try and let me know!