Okay...as promised it is time to share the delicious tri-colored vegetable pate with you dear readers. I know it doesn't really look like this pate is tri-colored...but it is.
-I was able to create this delicious and lovely dish with The Daring Kitchen as a Daring Cook. I had wanted to join The Daring Kitchen back in November when I first found the site. However, bouncing around from home to home since October prevented me from doing that. As soon as we moved into our house and I had my own kitchen, I knew it was time to sign up for the challenge that I'd been drooling over for months.
Basically The Daring Kitchen has two roles, Daring Cooks and Daring Bakers (I've signed up for both so beware!!) and they give you a new challenge each month. The Daring Cooks post their challenge results on the 14th of each month and the Daring Bakers post on the 27th of each month.
When I received my very first challenge, I was less than thrilled about the idea of pate but found that there was a veggie version that used a lot of ingredients I really enjoyed eating. So I figured I would give that one a try. The Hubble tried it and really like it as well (however, I didn't tell him the recipe had feta and ricotta cheeses in it because he's a big baby about cheese and would have decided he didn't like it).
This dish is actually really delicious and would be a fantastic party or potluck dish to bring. Not only is it pretty but it is full of flavor. It is quite large though so having just two people to eat it didn't really work out. I also made the standard "loaf" but this can be prepared in smaller or individual versions, shapes, or bundts for a more stunning look.
So here we go...
Ingredients: Feta cheese, olive oil, cannellini (white) beans, lemon, garlic, roasted red pepper, basil (I couldn't find fresh so had to use freeze dried), oregano, ricotta cheese, pignole (pine) nuts, and fresh parsley.
Line your pan or terrine with plastic wrap. Make sure you have plenty of extra on the sides because we will cover the pate with it later.
Drain and rinse the beans.
Toss them in a bowl...
And take the back of a spoon, a fork, or a potato masher and start mashing.
Until you have a pretty good paste going on.
Now add your garlic, oregano, lemon juice, and 1 Tablespoon olive oil.
Mix it all together.
Carefully spread it along the bottom of your pan so it's an even layer.
Now dump your roasted red peppers in a food processor.
Add in the feta cheese. Pulse a few beats...
Then turn that baby on until everything pureed and combined.
Spread this on top of the white bean layer in the pan. Make sure it's even and flat.
Now toss your garlic, basil, parsley, and pignoles in the food processor. Pulse a few beats.
Then turn it on and drizzle three Tablespoons of olive oil in as the machine is working. Mix until it's all pureed and combined into a nice pesto.
Dump the pesto in a bowl and mix in the ricotta cheese.
Spread that mixture on top of the red pepper layer in the pan.
Cover with the excess plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least 8 hours. I left mine in over night.
To unmold, take the plastic wrap off the top of the pate. Place your serving tray on top of the pan and turn it all over. Remove the pan, then carefully peel off the plastic wrap.
Serve on crusty French bread, crackers, or any other hand to mouth vehicle of your choice. Enjoy!
Tricolor Vegetable
Retrieved from The Daring Kitchen
Yields one 25 by 12,5 cm (10 by 5 inch) terrine or loaf pan
Line your pan with plastic wrap, overlapping sides.
White Bean Layer
- 2 x 15-ounce / 900 ml cans cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained thoroughly
- 1 tbsp / 15 ml fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp / 15 ml olive oil
- 1 tbsp / 15 ml minced fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
Red Pepper Layer
- 7-ounce / 210 ml jar roasted red bell peppers, drained, chopped
- 3/4 cup / 180 ml crumbled feta cheese (about 4 ounces)
Combine peppers and feta in processor and blend until smooth. Spread pepper mixture evenly over bean layer in prepared dish.
Pesto Layer
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 cup / 240 ml fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup / 240 ml fresh Italian parsley leaves
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml toasted pine nuts
- 3 tbsp / 45 ml olive oil
- 1/2 cup / 120 ml low-fat ricotta cheese
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
To unmold, invert pâté onto serving platter. Peel off plastic wrap from pâté. Garnish with herb sprigs and serve with sourdough bread slices.
