Roasted Pepper Eggplant and Cheese Terrine – Cooking in a Chianti castle

                                       Castello di Meleto

Cooking in a Chianti castle

The Rustico Cooking Chianti Culinary Tour was the ultimate cooking experience.  For five days, our tour group attended hands-on culinary courses in the kitchen of the enchanting Castello di Meleto (Meleto Castle).    This magnificent castle, surrounded with cypress trees and junipers, is located in the town of  Gaiole, in the central Chianti region of Tuscany, Italy.  Roasted Pepper Eggplant and Cheese Terrine was one of the dishes we prepared in one of the courses.

            Roasted Pepper and Eggplant Cheese Terrine

We stayed at a villa up the hill from Castello Meleto.  In the morning, we would meet for breakfast at the castle and then gather in the kitchen for our cooking courses to prepare rustic Italian dishes and desserts taught by Micol Negrin and her husband Dino DeAngelis of Rustico Cooking.

                                                             Castello Meleto villa

                                                  Meleto Castle kitchen

                                                       Lunch at Castello Meleto

Dining al fresco at Castello Meleto

                                              A toast to the cooks and great food!

                   View of the vineyard and Cyprus tress from Castello Meleto.

Roasted Pepper, Eggplant and Cheese Terrine Recipe

The Roasted Pepper Eggplant and Cheese Terrine recipe is easy to prepare. The flavour is well balanced with the roasted vegetables and cheeses.  The basil infused olive oil gives it the final touch.

Roasted Pepper Eggplant and Cheese Terrine - Cooking in Chianti

 

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Roasted Pepper Eggplant and Cheese Terrine is a vegetarian dish that can be served for brunch, lunch or supper as the main course or side dish.

Author: Nicol Negrin

Recipe type: vegetarian

Cuisine: Italian

Serves: 12

Ingredients

For the vegetables:

• 6 large red bell peppers, halved, stemmed, and seeded
• 6 large yellow bell peppers, halved, stemmed, and seeded
• 3 large eggplants, cut into long, thin slices (no more than ⅛-inch-thick)
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Mascarpone and Ricotta filling:

• 1 pound Mascarpone cheese (preferably imported Italian)
• pound whole-milk Ricotta
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves

For the basil oil:

• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup basil leaves

To serve:

• 4 cups baby greens
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 ripe plum tomatoes, diced

Instructions

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. Arrange the peppers, cut side down, on the baking sheet.
3. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.
4. Prepare the Mascarpone and Ricotta Filling:
5. Combine the Mascarpone, Ricotta, salt, and pepper until smooth in a bowl. Line 2 terrine molds with plastic wrap. Arrange some of the eggplants on the bottom of each terrine.
6. Top with some of the Mascarpone mixture, spreading it with the back of a spoon, then cover with a layer of peppers, a layer of parsley, and a layer of basil.
7. Repeat until you finish all the ingredients; the top layer should be eggplant.
8. Enclose in the plastic wrap and press with your hands to compact the ingredients so they hold together better when sliced.
9. Refrigerate up to 24 hours.
10. Prepare the basil oil:
11. Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until almost smooth.
12. How to Serve the Roasted Pepper, Eggplant & Cheese Terrine:
13. Toss the greens with the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
14. Arrange on each of 12 plates.
15. Unwrap the terrine.
16. Cut into thin slices and arrange on top of the greens.
17. Drizzle with the basil oil and garnish with the diced tomatoes.
18. Serve immediately.

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Permission to print the Roasted Pepper, Eggplant & Cheese Terrine recipe was granted by Micol Negrin of Rustico Cooking.

Micol Negrin is the author of The Italian Grill: Fresh Ideas to Fire Up Your Outdoor Cooking and  Rustico: Regional Italian Country Cooking.

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