Terrine of Roasted Eggplant

Prepare Terrine: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut the stem ends off all the eggplants. Cut 3 eggplants in half lengthwise and score the flesh with a sharp knife, making sure you don’t cut through the skin. Rub the cut surface of the eggplants well with ? tablespoon of the salt. Set the eggplant halves aside on paper towels, cut side down, and let them drain for 20 minutes.

Cut the fourth eggplant in half lengthwise and cut into º-inch slices also lengthwise. Sprinkle with the remaining salt. Lay the slices on top of one another in a colander. Place a dish on top and weight it with about 1 ? pounds (a can of tomatoes will do). Drain for 20 minutes.

Line the bottoms of two 18 x 13-inch baking sheets with parchment paper. Dry the cut surfaces of the eggplant halves and brush the parchment and eggplant with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Place them on the baking sheets, cut-side-down, and bake in the preheated oven 45 to 55 minutes. The eggplants are completely cooked when they dent easily when you poke the skin. Do not cook more than 1 hour as they burn easily once they are cooked. Remove them from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, dry the eggplant slices with a paper towel. Line another sheet pan with parchment paper. Brush the paper and the eggplant with the remaining olive oil and cook for 25 to 35 minutes, until golden brown, set aside.

Using a large spoon, scoop the cooked flesh out of the roasted eggplant halves. Discard the skin and place the flesh in a colander with a bowl underneath to catch the juices. Drain for 40 minutes, stirring once. Save 1 cup of the juices that have drained from the eggplant to use in the sauce.

Assemble Terrine: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix the egg yolks, Romano cheese and 1 cup of the bread crumbs with the roasted eggplant flesh. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then fold them gently into the eggplant mixture.

Rub the inside of a standard glass loaf pan (8 ? x 4 ? x 2 ? inches) with the butter and coat with the remaining breadcrumbs. Line the bottom of the loaf pan with the 2 largest slices of eggplant; place the remaining slices around the edges, standing up and overlapping slightly. They should extend above the rim by about 1/3 of their length so that you can fold them over the roasted filling.

Put half the eggplant mixture into the pan as they first layer and top with the goat cheese as the middle layer. Cover with the remaining eggplant mixture and fold over the overlapping eggplant slices. Bake for 45 minutes.

Prepare Sauce: Liquefy the tomato sauce and eggplant juice in a food processor for about 2 minutes. Strain through a wire mesh strainer into a saucepan. Add the sugar and basil and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring twice.

. Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan set over high heat until sizzling. Add the celery and sautÈ until brown. Drain well and add to the simmering sauce until it is finished cooking.

. Pour a pool of the hot sauce on each dinner plate and top with a slice of eggplant terrine.