Pecan-Mushroom Terrine

Traditionally, a terrine is a loaf of meat and fat (similar to pâté) with more coarsely chopped ingredients. This recipe for Mushroom-Pecan Terrine takes out the meat and most of the fat to create a vegetarian alternative.

It’s perfect accompanying cheeses, crackers, fruits and other nuts. It’s also very simple to make.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound mushrooms (I used button)
• 4 TBSP olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 TBSP fresh thyme (about 10 sprigs), finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cracked pepper
• 1 1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
• 4 eggs, beaten

Mushroom, Garlic and Red Onion Add Great Flavors to this Terrine

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease a small loaf pan, line it with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, melt 2 TBSP butter.
4. In two batches, pulse the mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped (3 to 4 pulses). Be careful not to overprocess as mushrooms will turn to mush.
5. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent (about 8 minutes). Add the garlic and mushrooms and saute for 8 to 10 minutes.
6. Stir in the sherry and continue cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated. Mix in the salt, pepper and thyme and set aside to cool.
7. Transfer mushroom mixture to a large bowl and, once cooled, fold in pecans, eggs and cheese. Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
8. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until inserted knife comes out relatively clean. While it bakes, the eggs may cause it to rise, but it will settle while cooling.
9. Cool in the pan then transfer (in the pan) to refrigerator. Remove when the terrine has completely cooled to prevent breaking and/or crumbling.

The Mushroom-Pecan Terrine packs a ton of flavor into a small loaf. In fact, you really won’t miss the meat at all.

Additionally, this terrine would probably work as a meatloaf alternative if you wanted to double the ingredients to create a larger loaf.