Your food should be beautiful.
Beautiful food is made from beautiful ingredients and makes you stop and appreciate what you’re eating. It’s not to say that in order to taste delicious food has to be beautiful (I’m looking at you, lentils), but when you make something that truly looks amazing, you remember it.
All of this is the set up for this rainbow beet terrine, which I am unabashedly in love with. Roasted beets are layered with a goat cheese filling. You throw some basil on top. It could not be more simple, but it is striking.
This was one of the dishes I made for Theo’s first birthday party earlier this month. It was the only dish that required more than one step to make, but I spread it across a couple of days. Day one: roast the beets. Day two: assemble the terrine. Day three: flip and trim.
When feeding a large number of people, the key is to keep the menu simple. But you want one stand-out dish, and this beet terrine was just that. I mean it looks like a rainbow, people.
The rest of the menu was as follows (in case you’re looking to feed 15 people sometime soon and don’t want to do any planning):
- A giant charcuterie platter filled with cheeses, sausage, jams, and crackers
- A black and white bean salad with tomatoes and mozzarella
- A paprika-spiced roasted potato salad
- A green bean salad with shallots, goat cheese, and hazelnuts
- And the main dish: slow-roasted pork shoulder with mustard and sage
Notice the theme? All flavor-filled recipes that come together quickly and can sit on the counter for the duration of a party and still be delicious. The beet terrine was a nice accompaniment to that.
So let’s walk through the process of making an edible rainbow. After roasting the beets and letting them cool completely, you’ll slice them thinly on a mandoline. If you want to be extra careful with not bleeding the colors together, make sure you slice all the yellow beets first and then follow it with the red. And while you’re at it, keep them on separate cutting boards so there isn’t any color mixing going on.
Next, mix together your goat cheese filling—it should be just thin enough to spread. Don’t make it runny. Then layer it up: red beets go first (they’ll be the top), followed by goat cheese, red, goat cheese, yellow, goat cheese, and finally the last of the yellow beets.
Cover it with some plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for at least 8 hours and then bam. Flip it out of the pan and you’ve made something beautiful.
- 1½ - 1¾ pounds red beets, about 3 large ones
- 1½ - 1¾ pounds yellow beets, about 3 large ones
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 8 ounces goat cheese
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup whole milk (can substitute 2%)
- 3 tablespoons crème fraîche
- 2 tablespoons basil, chopped, plus more for garnish
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Sea salt as garnish
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Individually wrap each beet in tinfoil, drizzling with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Place covered beets on a baking sheet and bake for 45-50 minutes, until beets are completely cooked through and can be easily pierced with a fork. Let cool completely. (You can store foil wrapped beets in fridge overnight).
- In a large bowl, mix together goat cheese, lemon juice, milk, crème fraîche, basil, and some black pepper. Mixture should be thin but not runny. If it's too thick and hard to spread, add a little bit more milk.
- When you're ready to assemble, use your hands to gently rub the beets and discard the skin (alternatively you can peel them before you roast them, but I find this method easier).
- Using a mandoline or a sharp knife, slice beets into ⅛ inch thick rounds. Start with the yellow beets and transfer to another cutting board/plate before slicing the red beets to avoid juices staining the yellow beets.
- Line a 9 x 4 inch loaf tin with plastic wrap, leaving some hanging over the sides. Drizzle olive oil and rub to coat bottom and sides of tin. Start by placing a layer of red beets into the bottom of the tin, overlapping them slightly. Top with another layer of red beets. Using a small spatula or a knife, spread about ⅓ of the goat cheese mixture over the top of the beets. Next, add two more layers of red beets, followed by ⅓ of the goat cheese, 2 layers of yellow beets, the last of the goat cheese, and finally 2 more layers of yellow beets.
- Fold the loose plastic wrap over the top to wrap completely (add additional plastic wrap if needed) and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
- When you're ready to serve, gently unwrap the terrine and flip it onto a serving platter. If you want the edges to look super clean, you can trim each side so you get nice, straight lines, however this is completely optional.
- Slice terrine in ½ inch pieces, and sprinkle sea salt and basil on top right before serving.
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