Broccoli terrine with parmesan and ginger: Adult baby food

equally suitable for children.. dressed up nicely it might even make an appearance at your Christmas dinner table. Tonight our dinner consists of pureed broccoli (and I used the stems as well, peeled and sliced), tagliatelle, bacon bits and caramelized onions. Smooth food..

This is what you do:

some 600 gr broccoli

small knob of butter

5-6 tbs chicken broth

5 tbs water (ahum...guestimated, just make sure it doesn't cook dry)

3 eggs

salt, (pink schezuan) pepper

2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbs fresh grated ginger

100 ml cream

dressed tagliatelle:

100 gr. bacon bits

1 large onion

1 ts sugar

Combine broth and butter, bring to a rolling boil, add chopped broccoli. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook until tender (10 min). Use a food processor, or a -hand held- blender and puree. Add eggs one by one, proceed by adding cream, Parmesan and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Coat 5 ramekins with oil, butter or cooking spray. Divide broccoli mixture over ramekins. Cover and set aside until ready to cook. Preheat oven to 175C/350F, place ramekins in a large ovenproof baking dish and pour hot water into baking dish (approx. 2 cm/1 inch). Bake in oven until edges are firm and the center is set (30-45 minutes). Test with -heat proof- finger or the back of a spoon (latter may be the wiser).

Now, one of two options: serve as it is, or prepare to live life dangerously and loosen edges with a sharp knife and invert on plates (which is not so tricky as it seems). I like to serve these hot but you could serve them chilled as well as part of a larger buffet style dinner. If you plan on serving them chilled take care in seasoning; chilled food needs some more pizazz. Hmm, I'm getting all kinds of ideas here.....this quantity in a loaf pan and served in slices, decorate with chives/basil, cherry tomatoes, baked parmesan cookie-swirls maybe?

Tagliatelle was served shaken (not stirred..) with drained bacon bits, reserve the fat to use 1 tbs to caramalize onions on low low heat, add 1 ts of sugar if you like and take your time to get a nice brown colour on your onions. Cook tagliatelle al dente, drain and toss with bacon and onions.

Serve....and enjoy your Thanksgiving!

PS: variations on a theme: use green asparagus, toss pasta with cooked shrimps, chives and roasted garlic and some olive oil. Serve with a bowl of grated parmesan and some reduced balsamic glaze for sprinkling. Next time I think I'll leave out the bacon and instead toast bread crumbs and hazelnuts in some olive oil... equally yummy!