Country terrine with black pepper & thyme

400 kcal or less bacon black peppercorn black peppercorns chicken liver chicken liver pate chicken livers gherkin gherkins mains make ahead meatloaf over an hour parfait pate pork pork terrine starters terrine thyme white wine

N/A

Source

Ingredients

butter , for greasing

750g streaky pork rashers

1 tbsp dried thyme

1 tsp black peppercorns

2 x 225g tubs frozen chicken livers , thawed

4 tbsp red or white wine (optional)

5 rashers smoked streaky bacon

cocktail gherkins or chutney, to serve

Method

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and butter a 1kg loaf tin. Roughly chop 3 of the pork rashers and mix with the thyme and peppercorns. Set aside. Put the remaining pork rashers into a food processor with two-thirds of the chicken livers, the wine (if using) and 1 tsp salt, then blend to make a smooth pâté.

Spoon half the pâté into the loaf tin, then top with the chopped pork mixture and remaining livers. Spoon the rest of the pâté mixture over the livers, then lay the 5 smoked bacon rashers lengthwise over the top.

Cover the loaf tin with foil and put in a roasting tin. Pour cold water into the roasting tin until it is half-filled, then bake for 1½ hrs until the terrine is set. When the terrine is cool, put another loaf tin on top and weigh it down (with cans from your storecupboard) to compress it. Leave overnight in the fridge. Can be made and chilled up to 2 days ahead.

To serve, turn the terrine out of the tin and carefully cut into slices with a sharp knife. Serve with the French toasts (recipe below) and cocktail gherkins or chutney.