In his most enlightening new book, Simple Nature, Alain Ducasse offers Ten Principles for great cuisine. Among those are: Cook and Eat Seasonally and Eat More Vegetables and Less Meat. This is not a vegetarian cookbook but the role of vegetables and fruits dominates.
When we think of terrine, we think of pork or duck or chicken livers surrounded by spices, cream, onions and perhaps some other veggies. The classic terrine is a meat dish with just a patina of veggie flavor. Here, Ducasse turns the tables. The meat is gone, totally gone, and the terrine is all vegetables: peppers, eggplant, zucchini, onions and more. All gracefully and beautifully arranged, as you can see in the leading photo.
That photo shows an oblong terrine mold while the recipe below calls for an 8 ¾ inch square one. I would opt for the recipe’s definition. You can see how much terrine material you actually have — based on the true volume of the veggies you have prepared — before making a final selection of your container.
This recipe comes from the Summer chapter in Simple Nature. I’m posting this just as spring ends and summer has not officially begun. But we’ve had a most warm spring and the produce is luxuriant. So, it’s already terrine time. Oh, once you have made the terrine, you need 8 hours of refrigerating time. This is not a make-and-eat dish! Once made, Ducasse says that it does need to be eaten the next day. Create this terrine on Saturday and eat on Sunday.
You can see my review of Simple Nature here.
Grilled Vegetable Terrine
Yield: serves 4-6
Ingredients:
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 eggplant (aubergine)
- 2 zucchini (courgettes)
- 2 red onions
- ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley
- ½ bunch cilantro (coriander)
- ½ bunch basil Salt
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 pinches Espelette pepper
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 5 ½ ounces tomato confit petals [or just confit if you cannot find or make the petals]
Preparation:
Prepare the vegetables and herbs several hours ahead
Use a mandoline with safety guard to slice the peppers, eggplant, and zucchini into ½-inch-thick slices. Peel the onions and slice them the same way.
Rinse, dry, and pluck the parsley, cilantro, and basil leaves. Coarsely chop the herbs and put them in a bowl.
Grill the vegetables
Heat a grill pan or flat top grill. Season the vegetable slices with salt and grill for 1 minute on each side, in batches if necessary. Transfer each batch to a large dish.
When all the vegetables have been grilled, drizzle them with the olive oil, sprinkle with the Espelette pepper, and add the chopped herbs. Pluck the thyme and add the leaves. Toss together with your hands.
Make the terrine
Line an 8 ¾-inch-square terrine mold with a large sheet of plastic wrap (cling film), leaving a good margin over the edges of the mold. Place the vegetable slices in successive layers, alternating from time to time with the tomato confit petals. Press well with the back of the spoon.
Cover with the plastic wrap, and then with a piece of cardboard the size of the mold. Place a weight on the top. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
Finish and serve
Remove the weight and turn the terrine out onto a dish. Slice and serve.
Source: Simple Nature by Alain Ducasse [ Rizzoli, 2017]