Quick recipe finder Winter vegetable salad
All elements of this dish can be cooked a day in advance and re-heated to serve.
By Raymond Blanc From Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets
Ingredients
For the pumpkin purée
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 250g/9oz pumpkin (such as Muscat de Provence or Iron Bar), peeled, cut into 2cm/1in cubes
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp hazelnut oil
For the pumpkin and beetroot
- 1 candy beetroot, washed, quartered
- 1 golden beetroot, washed, quartered
- 1 ruby beetroot, washed, quartered
- 4 pieces pumpkin, each cut into rounds 3cm/1.5in in diameter and height using a pastry cutter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce
- 100ml/3½fl oz ruby port
- 100ml/3½fl oz red wine
- 1 star anise
- caster sugar, to taste
For the mushroom fricassée
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small handful baby beetroot leaves
- 100g/3½oz mixed mushrooms, such as chanterelles, girolles and trompettes
- squeeze lemon juice
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 10g/½oz fresh flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
For the garnish
- ½ parsnip, peeled, sliced into ribbons with a vegetable peeler, deep-fried until crisp and golden-brown
- 12 fresh sage leaves, deep-fried until crisp
- 12 pickled baby shallots
Method
For the pumpkin purée, heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan and gently fry the pumpkin for 4-5 minutes over a medium-low heat. Season with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Increase the heat and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid. Continue to cook the pumpkin for 8-10 minutes, or until tender. Transfer to a food processor and blend to a smooth purée. Spoon into a bowl and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix in the extra virgin olive oil and hazelnut oil. Set aside until ready to serve.
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
Bring a pan of water to a simmer and place a steamer insert on top. Place all of the beetroot into the steamer and steam for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Set aside to cool slightly.
Heat the olive oil in a small ovenproof frying pan, add the pumpkin rounds and fry for 1-2 minutes on one side, or until golden-brown. Transfer to the oven and roast for 7-10 minutes, or until golden-brown and tender.
Mix the steamed beetroot with the extra virgin olive oil in a small pan and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Warm through over a medium heat just before serving.
For the sauce, heat a frying pan until hot and carefully pour in the port, and reduce in volume by half.
Add the red wine and star anise to the pan and simmer until the liquid has reduced in volume by a further two-thirds, and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste and add a little bit of sugar if the tannins in the sauce are too strong. Strain the sauce into a small bowl.
For the mushroom fricassée, heat a non-stick frying pan until hot and add the olive oil, baby beetroot leaves and chanterelle mushrooms. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and fry for one minute, then cover the pan with a lid and cook for a further minute.
Add the girolles and fry for a further 30 seconds with the lid on, then remove the lid and add the trompette de la mort mushrooms. Cook for a few more seconds, then season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir in the chopped parsley.
To serve, take a spoonful of pumpkin purée and drag it in a line along the middle of a rectangular plate. Place three beetroot wedges along the purée (one of each colour). Place a roasted pumpkin round on the other end of the pumpkin purée. Spoon the mushroom fricassée on either side of the pumpkin. Top with some deep-fried parsnip ribbons and deep-fried sage leaves, and arrange a few pickled shallots around the plate. Drizzle over the sauce. Repeat the process three more times to create four servings.
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