Tomato Eggplant Terrine

This looked like such a pretty dish to serve for Easter Brunch. They didn't have any heirloom tomatoes, as the recipe recommends, so I used just regular tomatoes.

Tomato & Eggplant Terrine (Adapted from Cooking Light)

4 medium heirloom tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 c water
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 medium leek, chopped
1 medium tomato, quartered
salt/pepper
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
12 (1/4-inch-thick) slices medium eggplant
1 1/2 T extra-virgin olive oil
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices
1 T fresh thyme, divided
1 T chopped fresh chives, divided
Fresh basil leaves

Place eggplant slices on baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Bake at 450 for 5 minutes and turn over. Bake another 10 minutes. Set aside to cool

Meanwhile, place tomato slices on paper towel. Sprinkle a little salt over each slice and cover with paper towels. let stand 15 minutes.

Place water in saucepan, add leek and tomato.  Season with salt and pepper. Cook for until boiling and simmer for 10 minutes.  Strain out vegetables. Discard solids.  Put liquid back into pan and allow to cool.


Meanwhile, line greased 9x5 loaf pan with plastic wrap.  Make a layer of tomatoes and sprinkle with chives, thyme, and basil leaves. Next make a layer of mozzarella and then eggplant.  Repeat layers.

Sprinkle gelatin over cooled liquid.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Bring liquid to boil until gelatin is melted. Pour over vegetables. Cover and let chill in refrigerator at least 8 hours.  Let it come to room temperature before slicing. 

I only got one layer of each so the above recipe is doubled so that you can get two layers. I don't know if I was using miniature vegetables or what but I could have used more. Maybe I didn't slice my vegetables thin enough but I really didn't feel like getting the mandolin out. I sliced everything by hand.  Besides even with the mandolin, slicing tomatoes is messy business.  I used a serrated bread knife to slice both the tomatoes and the mozzarella - it was much easier than using a regular knife. I froze the mozzarella so that it sliced easier.