Asparagus Spears with Pecorino Shortbread

From More from the Accidental Vegetarian, Simon Rimmer, Mitchell Beazley, 2012.

Sometimes you have a dish that, though full of flavour and attractive to look at, is awkward to eat. This salad was such a dish.

I began by making the shortbread. Into the blender I placed 175g plain flour, 100g butter cut into cubes, and 65g grated pecorino cheese. I gave them a churn and then added an egg yolk and salt and pepper. Another quick churn and they had formed a dough. This was rolled out and cut into triangular shapes. They were cooked in the oven (180ºC) for about 10 minutes when they had turned golden. They were taken out and let cool.

The asparagus was placed into boiling salted water until cooked and while it was cooking the dressing was made.

Into the blender went an egg yolk, 2 teaspoons caster sugar, a teaspoon Dijon mustard, a tablespoon white wine vinegar and the juice of half a lemon with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. They were given a blitz and then olive oil was added slowly while the blender was going. I added oil until the dressing was a consistency that suited me. I then added some chopped tarragon.

The salad was put together with one piece of shortbread on the plate, then some asparagus spears, a little rocket, dressing dribbled over, then a shortbread to top it all. Some shaved pecorino was dropped over.

I did enjoy this. The flavours worked well together. The dressing was creamy and sharp, the shortbread crunchy and salty, and they went so well with the asparagus. I just found it a little difficult to eat with the shortbread needing to be chased around the plate a little. But it was worth the chase.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Sundried Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Tart

From The Accidental Vegetarian, Simon Rimmer, Mitchell Beazley, 2010.

I always enjoy making pies or tarts and these simple tarts appealed to me.

I made a short pastry, lined some 7cm flan cases and blind baked them for about 15 mins. They were then taken out, the pie bean weights taken out and the flans returned for another 5 mins to crisp up the bottoms a little more.

The filling was made from finely chopping about 12 sun-dried tomatoes, and mixing them with 250g grated mozzarella and about 20 basil leaves which I tore into smaller pieces. This mixture was piled into the pastry cases, a dribble of cream added and they went into the oven until the cheese had melted and begun to brown a little.

I served these with a rocket, walnut, goat’s cheese and nashi pear salad. Tasty and refreshing, leaving you satisfied but not feeling bloated.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Goat’s Cheese and Mango

From The Accidental Vegetarian, Simon Rimmer, Mitchell Beazley, 2010.

I was intrigued by this recipe when I read it for it seemed to be an unusual mix. Now I am pleased I tried it.

To begin, I took a 7cm biscuit cutter and cut circles from slices of bread. These were brushed with a little oil and went into the oven to dry a little but not to brown.

I chopped a red chilli and some mint leaves finely. I roasted some sesame seeds and mixed them with the mint and chilli.

I pulped some tinned mango and mixed it with a pinch of salt and a touch of white wine.

I sliced some goat’s cheese and moulded it into rounds a little smaller than the bread rounds. I warmed a little honey and brushed it over the goat’s cheese rounds. These were then dipped, honey side down, into the chilli/mint/sesame seed mixture. They were placed on the bread rounds and put into the oven to heat until the cheese had softened.

To serve a smear of mango pulp went on each plate. Some rocket leaves were placed on this and it was all topped with the bread and goat’s cheese rounds.

I was well pleased with this. The flavours were varied and went together far better than I had anticipated. Peppery rocket over sweet mango and topped with tangy goat’s cheese—really tasty.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔ 

Panzanella

From The Accidental Vegetarian, Simon Rimmer, Mitchell Beazley, 2004.

I always like to have a salad to accompany a pasta dish and this is the one I made to go with the Penne with Tapenade. 

I put a red capsicum and a yellow capsicum in a hot oven until the skins had blistered. They were then taken out and placed into a plastic bag until they had cooled. They were then easily skinned. The seeds were removed and the capsicum cut into smaller pieces for the salad.

I now put two tomatoes into a pot of boiling water for a few seconds then took them out and peeled them. They were each cut into eight sections and the seeds removed. The seeds were put into a sieve and as much juice as possible squeezed from them. The tomato portions were added to the capsicum pieces, the juice kept for making the salad dressing.

I now took a portion of a ciabatta loaf, an amount suitable for the salad, and tore it into pieces. These were placed in a bowl while I made the dressing.

To the tomato juice I added a couple of tablespoons red wine vinegar and a little more olive oil. Salt and pepper were added and the mixture was beaten well, then poured onto the bread pieces. The bread was left to stand for about an hour.

To the tomatoes and capsicum I added a good handful of black olives (the recipe called for green but I prefer black), capers and a chopped red chilli. I went out into the garden and picked a few basil leaves and added these. Now the soaked bread was carefully mixed through the salad and it was ready to eat.

This was a salad full of zing. The dressing soaked bread, rich in strong flavours, highlighted all of the other ingredients: the tomatoes and capsicum, and the salty olives and capers—and the little chilli I added was an extra hot one.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

White Garlic Soup with Almonds

From Eat Your Veg, Arthur Potts Dawson, Mitchell Beazley, 2012.

In a small bowl I placed 76g blanched almonds and just covered them with milk. They were then left for an hour to soak.

After the hour I took the almonds out and placed in the milk two slices of white bread that had had the crusts cut off. I cut the bread into smaller pieces to fit into the milk in the bowl.

While the bread was soaking in the milk I peeled two garlic cloves and added them to the blender and gave them a whirl. The bread had soaked up the milk by now so it was added and given another whirl to blend it all to a paste. Keeping the blender going I added about ¼ cup olive oil, a tablespoon cider vinegar and 150ml water. The mixture by now resembled a thin cream. It went into the refrigerator to chill.

Before serving some almond pieces were dry fried until they became a little brown. They were sprinkled over the surface of the soup when it had been poured into bowls.

I shouldn’t have been so surprised that a garlic soup would be so strongly garlic—but I was. The soup was creamy with the wonderful crunch of roasted almonds but the raw garlic was harshly overpowering. The recipe does state that the bread mellows the garlic. I’m not so sure about that.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔