Waitrose Butternut Squash & Roasted Red Pepper Pate

Along with dips, I get through a lot of spreads. Essentially I just like crackers, breadsticks and good bread so always need lots of interesting things to dip them into or spread all over them.  There aren’t many spreads I dislike – houmous, nut butters, conserves, jams, salsa, tzatziki – I love them all. There are so many choices nowadays, there’s no need to get bored with the same old bread topper every day.

Waitrose don’t have the most extensive vegetarian range but what they do have is always fresh, interesting, different and utterly delicious so I had hope for this vegetarian pate. It’s a nice sounding flavour combination -butternut squash, roasted red peppers, soft cheese, couscous and cumin, cinnamon and other spices.

It looks really inviting – lots of nice chunks of red pepper dotted throughout and adding couscous to a spread intrigued me. The pate is extremely solid and chunky and not particularly easy to spread. However, it doesn’t break apart or crumble – you just need to cut small pieces off and spread a bit at a time rather than taking a large bit and trying to spread it all over – and to be honest this didn’t really bother me.

I actually quite liked the texture as it felt a bit more substantial and also meant I doesn’t melt or sink into warm bread. I had mine on a slightly toasted wholegrain bagel – a good source of fibre.

It’s a really delicious pate and it’s nice to have a veggie option that does contain a lot of veggie. It’s got a very fresh, slightly (naturally) sweet taste with a very subtle spicing. There’s no heat as such but it’s really warming and brings Moroccan warmth and taste to the pate.

It worked so well with the wholegrain bagel – it has a rich but not fatty texture and the sweetness of the carrot and butternut squash in it paired excellently with the nuttiness of the bagel. The roasted red pepper pieces have loads of flavour that is deep and fresh.

I can’t imagine any meat eater would object to having this as a pate. It’s both light and creamy and at the same time and I can’t believe quarter of a pack is just 65 calories as it tastes a lot creamier.

Price: £2.49

Bought at: Waitrose

Nutrition per quarter of a pack: 65 calories, 4.2g fat, 2g sat, 1.4g sugars, 0.41g salt

Score: 8/10