Three-Coloured Vegetable Terrine

Terrine de légumes aux trois couleurs

Mum and I made this on 6/7 July 2024.

My Review

I was quite apprehensive to make this, firstly because I’d never done anything like it before. Secondly, because I struggle with textures that are even vaguely soft and slimy. I am open minded when it comes to food and will try almost anything (offal, snails, raw sea whelks and horse are all things that have graced my stomach), but jelly, or anything resembling jelly, is a hard pass for me. Used to love it as a kid, not sure what happened!

Thirdly, making a delicate, layered mousse out of three different vegetables sounded like a recipe for failure. I was expecting it to either come out too watery and all blend together into a brown amorphous blob, or be too dry and crumble, looking like the surface of a dehydrated clay garden patch at the end of Summer.

How wrong I was! While Mum didn’t really like this one due to being a little bland, I think I was saved by my penchant for being rather generous in my interpretation of what a ‘pinch’ means. The people who helped me eat these also enjoyed them - however they were my in-laws, so I hope they weren’t just being nice! The flavour of each vegetable was very subtle, tempered with the cream, with hints of nutmeg and white pepper throughout.

While not overwhelmingly flavourful it was a delicate dish, perfect as the first course of a heartier meal. As there was no garlic, this recipe would also be good as an hors d’oeuvre to serve whilst guests socialise over cocktails – no fear of breathing garlicky clouds on anyone! I read somewhere once – I believe it was in the 2012 version of Henri-Paul Pellaprat’s ‘The Great Book of French Cuisine’ – that garlic should never be included in hors d’oeuvres at dinner parties for this reason. Onion is also apparently a faux pas. I suppose people always stay a chaste 1 metre apart after dinner, or by that point perhaps it is a 'rocks and glass houses' situation.

While I made this in individual ramekins, I would use an actual terrine dish next time. This would save on effort associated with dividing all the mixture up between them, and then upending every single one. Serving it as a single ‘loaf’ would also look quite impressive on a platter, provided you don’t splat it like I did to some of mine whilst trying to get it out! Sadly that was the only photo I remembered to take, but trust me, they taste good! Other than that, this was very easy to make…and eat.

Mum's Review

Fun to make but a little bland. Perhaps some garlic would liven it up. I halved the recipe and cooked in four small ramekins...impressive, but I would want to jazz it up flavour wise.

The Recipe

You can use any vegetables you like in this recipe - broccoli, chicory, lettuce, celery, and so on. You can cook them in small individual moulds or ramekins instead of a terrine, and serve as a vegetable garnish with a main course.

Serves 10

⚜ 1 lb (500g) spinach

⚜ 1 lb (500g) cauliflower

⚜ 1 lb (500g) carrots

⚜ 6 eggs

⚜ 10 fl oz (300ml) double cream, whipped until thick

⚜ Half oz (15g) salt

⚜ Half teaspoon white pepper

⚜ Half teaspoon nutmeg

The Method

Cook each of the vegetables in boiling salted water seperately. Strain them, squeeze out all the liquid and liquidise seperately.

Beat 2 eggs into each vegetable and fold a third of the whipped cream into each. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Butter a terrine and put in the vegetables in alternate layers. Cook in a bain-marie at gas mark 2, 300°F (150°C) for 1 hour. Allow to cool.

Serve chilled or hot, as you like.