Aubergine Polenta Terrine

Possibly my favourite UK city is Edinburgh, not just for the food but also the wonderful art gallerys - and of course shops! As usual there was a 'lazy' wind (it goes through not around you) but we had a wonderful evening out at Nonna's in Morningside with the best B & B owner we know - Clarissa - and as a fellow American ex-pat we got to discussing the pros and cons of cornmeal (aka polenta).  She's a big fan, but I have to say I really need that strong maize taste knocked back, so here is my compromise, which I have to say is rather tasty. As with all terrines read the recipe all the way through to the end to make sure you get the layers in the right order.

Aubergine Polenta Terrine
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Ingredients

100ml  olive oil

1 medium  aubergine
3 medium red onions
60g quick cook polenta

250ml light stock

125g baking potato (cooked)

125g soft goats cheese

2 tbsp semi-skimmedmilk

½ tsp thyme, dried

100g spinach, wilted, drained and chopped

2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

1-1 ½ tsp sun dried tomato paste

1 large tomato, thickly sliced

5-6 black olives

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

First of all heat your oven up to Gas 5/190C.  Then cut the aubergine into thin slices (about 5mm) preferably lengthwise. This is the hardest part of the recipe - best tip is to use a really sharp knife. Then place the slices on an oiled baking sheet, brush with oil (you will probably need 75ml) and bake for 10 minutes until soft and golden, turning once.

Then peel and slice the red onion into thick rings (you should get 4 out of each onion). Place flat on a baking tray, drizzle with the remaining oil and roast for 15 minutes until soft.

At the same time cook the polenta with the stock according to packet instructions (usually 5 minutes). Do not worry it will take on the consistency of wallpaper paste!

Mash the potato, three quarters of the cheese and all the milk together and season with thyme, salt and black pepper. Then combine well with the polenta. I know it is faster just to boil the potato but it does need to be dry so baking is a more fail-safe method.

To assemble the terrine: take a long 1lb loaf tin and strip line with baking parchment so you will be able to life out the terrine. Then divide the polenta mix into three. Spread one third on the bottom with a plastic spatula. Brush a little sun-dried tomato paste over this then cover with half the aubergine slices. Spread another third of polenta on top and place the onion over this followed by the spinach and nuts. Then spread the final layer of polenta on top, followed by the tomato paste and aubergine. Dot over pieces of the remaining cheese, cover with sliced tomatoes, add the olives and drizzle with a little oil and balsamic vinegar.

Finally bake for 20 minutes.  You'll find the terrine will be quite soft when hot, but becomes firmer as it cools (very nice for lunch the next day!)

Update
Having just featured this dish on a course at LucyCooks in the Lake District, we have come up with an even better terrine with roasted red peppers on the bottom layer and thin strips of courgette (using a potato peeler) on the top. This version is called Fern's Terrine (thank you Fern for being allergic to aubergine!)