Red pepper, aubergine & scamorza terrine - a contribution to WTSIM!

Today is T-day... and although the weather is really miserable and making a proper baked terrine with all the trimmings would be much more fitting, I've of course decided to make something vegetarian and rather summery. I've been wanting to make a proper meaty terrine for a while, but as usual, left everything till the last minute - I couldn't rely on finding all the ingredients necessary and, picky as I am, on them being all free-range and organic and what have you. So vegetarian was the better option by far.

I have been making this type of terrine in various declinations for years now, it's easy to make, transports well, keeps its shape and is therefore the perfect picnic ingredient. The layers could be anything, but I usually go for fried zucchini/courgette slices, herby tomato sauce and mozzarella and this last composition works is almost better in my opinion: chargrilled red peppers, aubergines grilled with lemon zest and oregano and scamorza, which is just a posh name for smoked mozzarella. Of course, I've been buying scamorza from the same old supermarket for years and the day I am in a rush to get my WTSIM contribution in, I discover they don't stock it anymore... for all of you wanting to try this recipe (and believe me, you should!), I ended up finding some at a Carluccio's deli. And if the Kingston branch does it, they will have it all over town. Now, am not in love with Carluccio (men with hair growing out of their ears just don't do it for me, call me picky!) and that goes all the way back to the very first cookbook I owned (truth be told, I had "borrowed" it from a friend and never given it back... if you're reading this, Julia, I promise I'll buy you a cookbook of your choice) - one of Carluccio's, of course. There he is on a picture serving pasta in a wooden bowl - yuck! That's engraved itself in my mind and forever spoilt my appetite for his food. Not only will the pasta be tasting of wood, the smell of garlic, olives and anchovies will forever stick to the bowl, no matter how hard you scrub it! No, no, no.

This time, though, I'll have to be grateful to the old man for saving my life when I was in need - I got my scamorza in the end and could make my terrine after all. The only problem with this variation on my original recipe is that the layers don't stick together like the one with the tomato sauce (as is obvious from the picture), so when I actually served it, I decided to warm it up in the oven for a few minutes, just enough for the scamorza to get a bit softer and ooze its way into the lower layers. You wouldn't believe what difference a few centigrades make even tastewise... I've always been addicted to melted cheese and this is no exception!

More terrines on thepassionatecook:
Zucchini, sage & scamorza terrine (October 2006)
Prune & almond chocolate terrine (October 2004)

Red pepper, aubergine & scamorza terrine
(yields approx. 8 slices)

6 red romano peppers
400 g aubergine (cut in 1 cm dice)
1 unwaxed lemon (zest and juice)
1 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp good quality olive oil
250 g scamorza (smoked mozzarella*)

To serve:
pesto, garlic bruschette

Grill the peppers in the oven for about 10 minutes until blackened and blistery. Place in a salad bowl and cover tightly with cling film to "steam" them. Leave to cool, then peel the skins off carefully and remove the seeds and stalks. Divide into long fillets.

While the peppers are cooling, put the aubergine dice into a bowl and microwave on full for 3 minutes to soften them. Spread out on a baking tray lined with a non-stick mat, sprinkle with sea salt, lemon zest and oregano, then place in the hot oven and bake at 250 C until just browning. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with olive oil and leave to cool.

When ready to assemble, cut the scamorza into thin slices. Line a terrine mould (450 ml) with cling film, then alternate layers of pepper fillets, aubergine and scamorza, starting and finishing with the peppers. Fold the cling film over to tightly enclose the terrine, cut a piece of cardbord to just fit the top of the terrine, weigh down with something heavy like a can of tomatoes and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

When ready to serve, take the terrine out of its mould, remove the cling film. Place in the pre-heated oven (100C) and let warm through for about 10 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt lightly.
Place on a serving plate and offer with garlic bruschette and a dollop of pesto.

* Scamorza is available in the UK through good Italian delicatessen, I bought mine at a branch of Carluccio's.

Comments

[Clarice]

Looks divine, some color on another drab Winter's day.

[Nina]

What a fab blog - I loved it. My first visit and I will definitely be back. Love the "pie post". Are you from South Africa in SA or not.

Nina

[FreshAdriaticFish]

fried zucchini slices, tomato sauce and mozzarella - sounds nice!

men with hair growing out of their ears - doesn't sound nice!

[Tartelette]

Looks wonderful! I could easily have that several times throughout the day!

[Annemarie]

That is a very pretty terrine. I hoped this would be my first WTSIM.. but I just came up blank on the terrine front. At least I have lovely ones like yours to look at.

[Emma]

The terrine looks great. I really like the photo and the composition with the pesto (?) in front. Vibrant colors and appetizing... I can just imagine all the cheese :)

[Deborah Dowd]

What a beautiful terrine! Lovely color and layers, and an inspiration for trying a terrine myself!

[ejm]

This looks very much like the terrine that I imagined I was going to make! It looks delicious!

-Elizabeth

P.S. Rats! Here it is 2 February, still no terrine made and now I have even missed the extended deadline for January's WTSIM....

[Kaykat]

*drool*! Very pretty. I'm going to have to try this, but I'll probably skip the smoked mozzarella and go with the fresh one instead :)