Say terrine, and you think about a rustic but elegant table, a timeless country house, and a crackling fireplace. But, you know, you don’t necessarily need to live in the countryside.
If you love good food, you will find new inspiration in this preparation.
There was a time when I often made terrines. They were perfect for home aperitifs and gifts. Sometimes, on the occasion of an event where I was a guest, I bought a ceramic mold I used to cook a paté; then, I used to gift the terrine wrapped in a kitchen towel.
What is a terrine?
It has the consistency of flan, cut into slices or of a pâté, creamy but not runny.
As you have probably guessed, the terrine’s name comes from the mold where they are cooked and brought to the table. The mold usually has a lid, but it is ok even if you cover it with aluminum foil when cooking to preserve the consistency.
Cooking is in a bain-marie in the oven. Cooking times can vary from a few minutes to an hour or more. Often, the ingredients are part chopped, part cut into strips, or at least coarsely. Even when they are creamy, I prefer slightly rustic terrines to perfectly smooth ones.
It’s a recipe you can serve as an appetizer or aperitif.
Or as a second course on a table where everything is already there: bread, breadsticks, a board of cold meats and cheeses, preserves and chutneys, bowls of seasonal salad, fruit. One of my favorite tables. Everyone sits down, even the house cook, to taste and eat as much or as little as they want. Serve a glass of red wine and mild chatter to round off the evening.
Borlotti terrine and Saba of Romagna
Do you know saba?
As Pellegrino Artusi wrote (Recipe No. 731), it is a grape syrup from Trebbiano white wine, a white grape from Romagna.
It has to boil for a long time until it almost becomes a syrup.
The saba romagnola is a bit like the balsamic vinegar from Emilia (HERE, you can read the story of a visit I made to an ancient vinegar factory in Modena).
And as with balsamic vinegar, you can use saba to cook sweet and savory dishes.
I still remember the sweet smell of the saba boiling slowly and then the row of small bottles that found a place in the cellar with many other good things.
My grandmother used to tell me that when she was little, the saba was put on fresh snow to make ice cream. What a time!
Once, saba and borlotti were a typical side of Romagna.
Hence, the idea to turn it into a borlotti terrine flavored with saba.
The bean terrine has an alluring taste, almost like meat, even though it is a vegetarian recipe. It has an enveloping flavor and a velvety texture.
This terrine needs no further cooking after the beans, but you can put it in the oven for a few minutes, covered, to serve warm.
If you don’t have saba (which you can make at home or buy), replace it with the same amount of balsamic vinegar or maple syrup.
Serve the bean terrine with bread and breadsticks.
Among the recipes on the blog, this terrine is perfect with radicchio and Roquefort salad (find the recipe here; if it is no longer plum season, replace it with red grapes).
Buona cucina, Monica
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Borlotti terrine
Ingredients
- 250 g of dried borlotti beans or 100 g of canned beans
- 4 bay leaves
- 500 ml of water
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 shallot or 1 thin slice of onion, finely chopped
- 20 g of saba of Romagna or the same amount of balsamic vinegar or maple syrup
- olive oil and bean cooking water to taste
Instructions
- The night before, soak the beans in cold water to rehydrate them.
- Cook the beans in water with bay leaf and one pinch of salt for about 1 hour or until soft. If necessary, add more water while cooking.
- Drain the beans, but keep the cooking water aside.
- Finely chop the onion or shallot, and cook gently in a small pan on low heat with olive oilf or 3 minutes. Then add the beans and a pinch of salt, stir, and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
- Put the veggies in the blender, add the saba (or balsamic vinegar), a tablespoon of olive oil, and two tablespoons of the beans' cooking water. Blend and reduce to a cream.
- Then taste the cream, adjust the salt, and add more cooking liquid until the cream is soft as you want it.
- Place the paté in a bowl, cover, and place in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before serving.
- Reheat the terrine for three minutes, covered with aluminum foil, in a preheated oven(190C degrees or 374F). But you can eat it at room temperature.
- Store in the refrigerator for several days.
Food tip
- If you use canned beans, wash them under running water and cook for 10 minutes in water with bay leaves, and salt to give it flavor. Save the cooking liquid to make the paté fluid.
