Eggplant Starter with Tomato Vinaigrette Vegetarian-Friendly
Let’s Eat the World · Provencal Recipes · Starter Course · TasteIf you’re looking for a vegan or vegetarian dish to wow your plant-based friends, this take on a traditional terrine is an excellent place to start. Eggplant combined with some bright and flavourful spices make for a firm, tasty starter dish that is fantastic served on its own or with a delicate tomato vinaigrette. You can also enjoy this eggplant starter with a fresh green salad for a meal that’s bound to leave you impressed. Enjoy more of these delicious recipes from our database.

Eggplant Poupetton with Tomato Vinaigrette
Although terrine is traditionally a meat-based pâté, you can create a plant-based meal that is just as delicious and packed full of nutrients! This dish could fool even the strictest of carnivores and is sure to impress your friends that follow a vegetarian or vegan diet (you can substitute the cream for a dairy-free alternative to make a stunning vegan dish).
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 kg eggplants (aubergine) roughly 2 1/4 lbs
- 8 eggs
- 4 tbsp crème fraîche or sour cream
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash the eggplants, remove the head, rub them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and wrap them in aluminum foil. Cook in an oven at 160ºC (320ºF) for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
- Let them cool down, cut them in half, and let drain if needed.
- Mix them in a blender or a food processor with eggs, cumin, salt, pepper, and cream, and blend for 1 minute.
- Pour the batter into a terrine or mould and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes in the oven at 180ºC (350ºF).
- Serve cold with the tomato vinaigrette and a green salad.
For the Vinaigrette:
- Blend everything together and let rest for 30 minutes. Then strain the sauce to remove seeds and skin.
Notes
The tomato vinaigrette keeps for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Other Delicious Eggplant Recipes
Stuffed Aubergines (Eggplant) with Garbanzo Beans
This dish easy to prepare and you can alter the topping ingredients to suit your taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Check out this recipe

Baked Eggplant and Lamb with Tomatoes and Pine Nuts a Perfect Casserole
This casserole is delicious comforting blend of ground lamb, rich eggplant and melted mozzarella.
Check out this recipe
Gérald Passedat's Ratatouille My Way
"Ratatouille My Way" is from Gérald Passedat's new cookbook Flavors From The French Mediterranean. Ratatouille is a classic Provencal recipe that uses ingredients readily found in the region (tomatoes, zucchini, onions, eggplant).
Check out this recipe
Legal
All rights reserved. Perfectly Provence articles and other content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten (including translations into other languages) or redistributed without written permission. For usage information, please contact us.
Syndication InformationAffiliate Information
As an Amazon Associate, this website earns from qualifying purchases. Some recipes, posts and pages may have affiliate links. If you purchase via these links, we receive a small commission that does not impact your price. Thank you in advance for supporting our work to maintain Perfectly Provence.
Previous Post
Fire Destroys an Olive Grove in ProvenceRelated Provence Articles
Make a Ratatouille Version from Nice – La Ratatouia Nissarda
May 19, 2023
Dishes such as ratatouille, pan bagnat, panisse, soup au pistou, and salade Niçoise appear on menus throughout the South of France. Many cooks have time-tested variations on these recipes, which may be delicious, but don’t quite follow the Cuisine Nissarde traditions. Although ratatouille is known around the globe, the authentic version requires the freshest ingredients …
Eggplant Cakes with a Pesto Sauce to Start the Evening
May 8, 2019
They prepared several delicious dishes for the evening, but these Eggplant Cakes in a Tomato Pesto Sauce were my favourite. You can serve this recipe as an appetizer, the first course for a dinner party or even at lunchtime with a green salad. Think of this as a savoury cake. Once the eggplant is cooked, simply combine with the rest of the ingredients and bake. The dish can be served with the pesto sauce (below), a tomato sauce or combine the two for a rich flavour experience.…
Make this Spring Dinner Menu Inspired by Provence
March 18, 2022
Those places in the world where spring arrives early (and stays) should be on your travel “bucket list.” When the mimosa begins blooming in late January, winter is almost over on the Côte d’Azur. However, like a cat playing with a ball of wool, spring takes patience in the rest of Provence. On the other …
Wheat Berry Risotto with Vegetables a Vegetarian Main Course
January 11, 2024
This recipe for Cremoso de Mote is my soft wheat berry risotto variation. It is a dish that we ate twice while visiting Easter Island in 2019. Soft wheat berries (trigo mote) are cooked risotto-style, then sautéed vegetables are added. I didn’t get an exact recipe from the chef, but he gave me a list …
No Comment