Vegetable pot-au-feu
A good hearty main course based on vegetables is a fantastic thing to have up your sleeve in December
Difficulty and servings
Serves 4
Preparation and cooking times
Ready in 45 mins
Vegetarian
- PREPPING THE VEGETABLES - I think it's nice to make each vegetable a different shape. Using an apple corer take the centres out of the parsnips, then slice the parsnips into hoops. Cut the carrots into lozenge shapes, and the swede and kohlrabi into pieces that fit nicely on a spoon. Don't cut anything too thin; you want each ingredient to taste of itself (if everything is wafer thin, the flavour will leach out).
- COOKING THE POT AU FEU - Put all the vegetables in a wide pan and add the garlic and star anise. Crush the peppercorns and lightly crush the juniper berries, add to the pan. Generously drizzle the lot with olive oil and add the cloves, thyme and pearl barley. Add enough water to cover the vegetables, but don't drown them - you need just enough liquid to make a well flavoured broth. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and taste the liquid - it should already be well flavoured and palatable. Add a slug more oil to give the veg a nice gloss and protect them as they cook. Now leave the pan to tick over slowly on a simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender with a little bite (if you cook it too fast, the broth will end up cloudy rather than beautifully clear).
- MAKING THE PESTO - You can make the pesto with a pestle and mortar, or in a food processor. I prefer to do it by hand so the pesto ends up nice and chunky, but it's up to you. Put the walnuts, basil and parmesan in a pestle or food processor and pound or whizz to a coarse texture. Add enough olive oil to make the mixture spoonable and season well with salt. Roll the lemon firmly backwards and forwards across the work surface to make the juice flow easier, halve and squeeze in enough juice to add flavour to the pesto.
- FINISHING THE DISH - Blanch the cabbage leaves in the vegetable pan or in boiling water for 3 minutes and then run under cold water to cool them down quickly (so they keep their green colour). If you use the veg pan for doing this, the leaves will pick up some olive oil and have a nice shine to them.
TIP
At some point over Christmas there will come a time when you need some lovely clean flavours to cut through all the richness and this well flavoured broth stacked with vegetables is perfect.
PER SERVING
477 kcalories, protein 11.9g, carbohydrate 39.7g, fat 31.2 g, saturated fat 5.7g, fibre 11.8g, salt 0.55 g
Recipe from olive magazine, January 2008.
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Ingredients
- 2 parsnips , peeled
- 4 carrots , peeled
- 1 small swede , peeled
- 2 kohlrabi , peeled (or use turnip as an alternative)
- 4 banana shallots or 8 ordinary shallots, quartered
- 3 whole garlic cloves
- 7 star anise
- ½ tsp black peppercorns
- ½ tsp white peppercorns
- 4 juniper berries
- olive oil
- 3 cloves
- a sprig thyme
- 3 tbsp pearl barley
- 8 cabbage leaves
WALNUT PESTO
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Difficulty and servings
Serves 4
Preparation and cooking times
Ready in 45 mins
Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 2 parsnips , peeled
- 4 carrots , peeled
- 1 small swede , peeled
- 2 kohlrabi , peeled (or use turnip as an alternative)
- 4 banana shallots or 8 ordinary shallots, quartered
- 3 whole garlic cloves
- 7 star anise
- ½ tsp black peppercorns
- ½ tsp white peppercorns
- 4 juniper berries
- olive oil
- 3 cloves
- a sprig thyme
- 3 tbsp pearl barley
- 8 cabbage leaves
WALNUT PESTO
PER SERVING
477 kcalories, protein 11.9g, carbohydrate 39.7g, fat 31.2 g, saturated fat 5.7g, fibre 11.8g, salt 0.55 g
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19 November 2009
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