April 2008 - Spring veggies

Last month fish; this month green cuisine. Here are some gorgeous dishes for spring days: wild garlic soup (at its peak now), a toothsome bulgour salad, a fragrant courgette and pesto loaf, a delicate vegetable terrine, a delicious veggie strudel with blue cheese and a mixed spring veggie tourte.

WILD GARLIC SOUP WITH ASPARAGUS

A brilliant green soup for spring combining pungent wild garlic and green asparagus, plus a shot of cream to soften things up and a pink prawn for a jaunty garnish.

Makes about 2 litres/8 cups, serving 6-10 depending on portion size

• Remove stalk ends from garlic leaves and chop roughly

• Snap off the woody ends of white or green asparagus (peel white asparagus). Cut either sort in 4-5 cm lengths
• Bring the salted water to a boil and cook garlic for 5 minutes
• Lift out the leaves with a slotted spoon and reserve the water
• Put the leaves in the liquidizer or food processor with the cream and whizz to a purée
• Bring the reserved cooking water back to the boil and toss in the potato cubes
• Simmer for 10 minutes, add the trimmed asparagus and cook 5-10 minutes more till both potatoes and asparagus are soft
• Fish out 6-8 asparagus tips and reserve them for the garnish
• Cool the soup a little, then pour into the liquidizer or food processor and blend with the puréed garlic cream until smooth (or blend everything together in pan with hand-held blender)
• Return the soup to the saucepan, bring to the boil and season to taste, adjusting if necessary
• Serve in bowls or small coffee cups garnished with reserved asparagus tips and/or prawns

A nutty salad of cracked wheat (also known as bulgur or burghul) with tomatoes, avocado and lemon juice with an earthy, peasant flavour and great texture. Nice served in glasses or a big glass bowl.

• Soften the onion in 2 tbsp olive oil without allowing it to brown
• Add the cracked wheat and cook, stirring now and again, for 5 minutes
• Boil the water and dissolve the stock cube in it
• Add it to the cracked wheat, cover the pan, turn off the heat and leave for 10 minutes, by which time all the liquid should be absorbed
• Fork up the wheat and taste for seasoning
• Turn the wheat into a bowl, stir in the tomatoes, avocado cubes, lemon juice, 3 tbsp olive oil and the chosen herbs, mixing well
• Spoon the salad into glasses or a big bowl and refrigerate
• Just before serving decorate salad(s) with herb sprigs

A fragrant bread, pale golden and speckled with green, that goes well with spring food. The grated courgettes give it a wonderful moisture, like carrots in carrot cake, or bananas in banana bread.

• Mix together the flour, salt, fresh or dry yeast, grated courgette and pesto in a large mixing bowl.
• Add the water and work up to a dough, as shown
• Knead thoroughly for at least 5 minutes by hand or with the electric mixer with the dough hook fitted - add sprinkles of flour if the dough is too sticky. After 5 minutes it should start to clean itself off your hands, or off the side of the bowl - add more flour if necessary to achieve this
• Encase the bowl in a plastic bag and leave the dough to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk
• Oil a loaf tin 27 cm x 13 cm x 7 cm deep
• Deflate the dough and knead again on a floured board
• Pat dough out roughly to a rectangle the same length as the tin, roll it up into a bolster shape and pack it firmly, seam side down, into the tin.
• Leave it to climb up the to top of the tin - about 30 minutes
• Heat the oven to 220oC.
• Bake the loaf for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and the base sounds a deep hollow note when tapped with a knife

VEGETABLE TERRINE WITH HERBS

A wonderfully quick/easy dish based on a pack of frozen vegetables (e.g. julienne de légumes from Picard, or similar from Migros/Coop – the stir-fry mixes work well). These are lightly sautéd to drive off moisture, mixed with crème fraîche, cheese and lots of fresh herbs, and baked in a loaf tin (or silicone flexipan). If possible, make the terrine a day ahead, chill it well and serve in thickish slices with a bowl of mayonnaise or fromage blanc mixed with chopped herbs, or with a little nest of salad leaves.

• Heat the oven to 180C
• Butter or oil a loaf tin about 24 x 10 cm and cut a piece of non-stick paper to fit the bottom [or use a silicone flexipan]
• Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan and toss the vegetables in it for a few minutes over moderate heat until any liquid has evaporated – the vegetables must be dry, or the terrine will be soggy
• Beat together or process (in food processor) the cream, eggs, cornflour/starch, salt and pepper and chopped herbs
• Stir in the cheese and cooled vegetables
• Pour into the loaf tin or pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until firm to the touch and slightly risen
• Leave to cool in the tin or pan, then refrigerate
• Turn the terrine out and serve in slices with herby mayonnaise/fromage blanc and/or a little nest of salad

Use strudel or filo pastry for this nice little veggie bolster.

• Put 1 inch/2.5 cm water with a pinch of salt in a large pan and bring to a boil
• Add spinach and cook till wilted (about 5 minutes)
• Drain, press out the water, chop spinach roughly and put in a bowl
• Heat the oil and butter in the pan, add the chopped onion or shallot and cook till just soft (about 5 mins)
• Add mushrooms, salt and pepper, cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes till the juices are released
• Uncover the pan and cook hard for about 5 minutes more to reduce and evaporate the juices
• Add to the cooked chopped spinach and season with a pinch/grating of nutmeg
• Let the mixture cool thoroughly, then mix in the crumbled blue cheese and beaten egg
• Unwrap the strudel sheets, lay one of them on a board, brush with oil and lay another one on top; brush this with oil, add the third sheet, brush with oil and lay the fourth sheet on top
• Arrange the mushroom/spinach mixture on the oiled strudel sheets along the short end closest to you in a bolster/sausage shape, turn in the sides of the pastry over the filling and roll up into a good bolster
• Place strudel seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment, brush strudel with oil and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds
• Refrigerate if not baking immediately
• Heat the oven to 200C and bake the strudel for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the filling hot through (stick in a skewer and test it to see if hot)
• Serve with fromage blanc with chopped herbs

A sprightly, free-formed pie of spring veggies with fresh goat’s cheese, with shortcrust (piecrust) beneath and puff pastry on top.

• Peel and/or trim all the vegetables and slice thinly lengthwise
• Heat the oil or butter and water in a large frying pan with lid
• Put all the sliced vegetables in the pan and season generously with salt and pepper
• Cover the pan and cook vegetables over brisk heat for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are barely tender – remove the lid at the end and stir and shake the vegetables till all the water is absorbed (vegetables should NOT be soft – they will be further cooked in the pastry case)
• Tip the vegetables into a large (preferably metal) bowl, stir in the parsley and/or chives and leave them to cool
• Unroll one of the puff pastry rounds and place on a sheet of baking parchment on a baking sheet
• Arrange the vegetables in the middle, leaving a border of about 3 cm all around, and top with slices of goat’s cheese
• Brush the un-covered border with water and lay the second pastry round on top
• Press the edges together with a fork and/or roll them over on themselves to form a decorative edge
• Cut some holes in the top to allow steam to escape, make light, slanting slashes with the point of a sharp knife (don’t go through the pastry) and brush with beaten egg
• Heat the oven to 200C and bake the pie for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown
• Blend together all salsa ingredients to a smooth green sauce and serve with the pie