We help you put together a vegetarian French spread that’s sure to knock the socks off your guests.
Miso Glazed Aubergine Steak
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Calorie count: 250 calories (per serving)
Ingredients:
30 g butter
15 ladyfingers
15 g miso paste
2 g thyme
4 garlic cloves
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
320 g aubergine (brinjal)
For garnishing:
Roasted almond flakes
1 pear, diced
Method:
- Slice the aubergine vertically and sear on a hot pan using extra virgin olive oil. Add garlic and thyme to flavor the oil.
- Place the pan in the oven for 200℃ for three to four minutes to cook the aubergine all the way through.
- Mix the miso paste with a little water, and add it to deglaze the pan.
- Thinly slice the ladyfingers and flash-fry in hot oil.
- Heat the butter until brown and emulsify with fresh orange juice using a blender. Season to taste.
- To serve, place the aubergine on a plate and top with fried ladyfingers. Drizzle the brown butter-orange sauce.
- Garnish with roasted almond flakes and diced pear.
Tip: You can substitute the ladyfingers with sweet potato straws.
Rosemary and Pumpkin Croquettes
Serves: 6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Calorie count: 300 calories (per serving)
Ingredients:
50 g cornflour
500 g breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper, to taste
10 g fresh rosemary
100 g cream
600 g pumpkin
Method:
- Cut the pumpkin into big chunks with the skin on. Remove the seeds. Season with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Roast in the oven at 180℃ for 10 to 15 minutes or until tender.
- Scoop out the flesh with a spoon and blend or pass through a sieve.
- Transfer the roasted pumpkin puree to a pan, add cream, and cook until the mixture turns dry. Let it cool and then shape into croquettes.
- Add a little water to the cornflour to make a thick batter. Dip the croquettes into the batter and then roll them in breadcrumbs. Deep-fry until golden brown and drain on absorbent paper.
- Serve with blue cheese sauce or garlic cream.
Tip: You can freeze the croquettes to firm them up before frying.
Mushroom Vol-Au-Vent
Serves: 6
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Calorie count: 400 calories (per serving)
Ingredients:
500 g puff pastry
For the mushroom duxelle
½ tsp lemon juice
A pinch of nutmeg
200 ml vegetable stock
120 g fresh cream
20 g flour
30 ml white wine
120 g leeks
200 g button mushrooms
For garnishing
100 g mushroom diced
100 g green peas
Method:
- Roll out the pastry into half-centimeter thickness. Using a round pastry cutter (10 cm in diameter), cut the puff pastry into the required number of discs (500 g of pastry yields twelve discs for a total of six vol-au-vent).
- Place half the discs on a flavored worktop and cut a hole in the center using another pastry cutter (5 cm in diameter). Save the cutout centers to use as caps.
- Carefully stick the cutout rings to the top of the uncut pastry discs to make the base of the vol-au-vent, using a little water. Chill for about two hours before beginning the baking process.
- Bake the vol-au-vent bases at 170℃ for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool them and gently remove the excess pastry in the middle with a knife to leave room for the filling. Bake the caps (cutout centers) for 10 minutes.
- For the mushroom duxelle, dice the button mushrooms and the white part of the leeks.
- Sweat the diced mushrooms in butter until the water dries out, and then add the leeks. Cook for five minutes and then add the flour. Continue cooking for five more minutes before pouring white wine.
- Allow the white wine to evaporate and then add the vegetable stock. Cook for another 20 minutes and then blend the mixture. Reheat the mixture and add cream, nutmeg, and lemon juice.
- To prepare the garnish, pan-fry the diced mushrooms and blanch the green peas. Add both to the mushroom duxelle.
- Arrange each baked pastry shell on a serving plate and spoon a generous amount of mushroom duxelle into the cavities.
- Place the vul-au-vent caps (cutout centers) on top and serve immediately.
Tip: Substitute the white wine with extra vegetable stock.
