I love vegetables.
When my mum reads that statement it will make her laugh out loud, as I've spent most of my life hating vegetables and avoiding them as much as possible.
And actually I still don't love all vegetables - stalky nobbly broccoli is clearly the devil's work. Nothing would convince me to eat smelly watery cucumber. However, if you roast me some sweet parsnips or nutty Jerusalem artichokes I'm a happy girl.
We now probably eat vegetarian meals at least three times a week, and what has made the difference has been finding amazing recipes which put vegetables at the centre of the dish and are packed with great flavours and textures.
I have a little bit of an obsession with Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's books Plenty and Jerusalem. Though not vegetarians they create fabulous vegetables dishes that can easily be made at home.
This recipe is adapted from a recipe in Jerusalem. I've added the peashoots/ walnuts and roasted the figs rather than served them fresh, but otherwise it's a great representation of the beautiful dishes in their books.
When my mum reads that statement it will make her laugh out loud, as I've spent most of my life hating vegetables and avoiding them as much as possible.
And actually I still don't love all vegetables - stalky nobbly broccoli is clearly the devil's work. Nothing would convince me to eat smelly watery cucumber. However, if you roast me some sweet parsnips or nutty Jerusalem artichokes I'm a happy girl.
We now probably eat vegetarian meals at least three times a week, and what has made the difference has been finding amazing recipes which put vegetables at the centre of the dish and are packed with great flavours and textures.
I have a little bit of an obsession with Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's books Plenty and Jerusalem. Though not vegetarians they create fabulous vegetables dishes that can easily be made at home.
This recipe is adapted from a recipe in Jerusalem. I've added the peashoots/ walnuts and roasted the figs rather than served them fresh, but otherwise it's a great representation of the beautiful dishes in their books.
Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
¼ chilli flakes
20g caster sugar
40ml balsamic vinegar
4 fresh and ripe figs
125g soft goat’s cheese
Sea salt and black pepper
A few handfuls of peashoots
A handful of roughly chopped walnuts
How to make it:
1. Preheat the oven to 240C/gas 9.
2. Wash the sweet potatoes, halve them lengthways and then cut each again similarly into three long wedges. Mix with the olive oil, the chilli flakes, a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper.
3. Cut a cross into the top of each fig, take a chunk of cheese and put it inside.
4. Spread the wedges out on a baking sheet, skin-side down, nestle the figs inbetween them and cook for about 25 minutes until soft but not mushy.
5. To make a balsamic reduction, place the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 2–4 minutes, or until it thickens. Be sure to remove the pan from the heat when the vinegar is still runnier than honey; it will continue to thicken as it cools.
6. Stir in a drop of water before serving if it does become too thick to drizzle.
7. Put the peashoots in the bottom of each dish and sprinkle with the walnuts.
8. Arrange the sweet potatoes and figs on top.
9. Drizzle over the balsamic reduction and crumble over some extra cheese if you'd like it.
Recipe adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi
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