Assiette de Legumes

Pod the broad beans, put in a saucepan, cover with water, add some salt, and simmer for around eight minutes. Take off the heat and drain the beans into a colinder under a cold tap. Put the radio or a CD on and peel the broad beans.

Add two or three tablespoonfuls of single cream to the beans along with a good squeeze of lemon juice, and a couple of pinches of salt. Then mash the mixture preferably with a hand blender and re-season if required.

Put the whole red peppers into the oven at 400°F/200°C/Reg6 for twenty minutes. Take out and put the peppers into a plastic or paper bag for around ten minutes. Take them out of the bag, peel them, remove and discard the inside of the peppers, and cut into finger width slices.

Top and tail and peel the carrots and then cut them lengthwise in half or quarters if they are large. Wash the and dry the mushrooms and cut into thin slices. Cut the courgette and aubergine into thin slices  Picture  . Make a dressing with five tablespoonfuls of olive oil, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, and salt to taste.

Put a griddle pan on a medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Season the courgette/aubergine slices on both sides and when the griddle pan is hot, add the slices to pan and cook until they are scored. Turn the slices over to score the other side and when done remove them and put on to some kitchen paper  Picture  . You will probably need to do this in batches.

Put the carrots in a frying pand with a little olive oil and cook until only just tender. Take them out and put on to kitchen paper. Add the mushrooms to the pan, season with black pepper and cook them for a couple of minutes.

Put a spoonful of the broad bean puree into the centre of the serving dishes and lay the other vegetables around it. Pour a little dressing each pile of vegetable but not the broadbeans. Note that this is nice if the ingredients are still a little warm so serve immediately  Zoom  .