CHEF Rob Howell’s new cookbook, named after his Bristol restaurant Root, is all about ‘small vegetable plates, a little meat on the side’. And he does veg beautifully, imbuing humble green things with delicacy, panache and intrigue.
In the book, Howell bakes courgette ragu inside a marrow, turns swede into tagliatelle, chars hispi cabbage, creates tomato water, fills chicory leaves with apple, liberally applies burnt onion powder and amplifies pears and strawberries like you wouldn’t believe (he even stuffs doughnuts with carrot jam).
Meat and fish do occasionally sidle into view, but in Root, if it’s been picked or dug up, it reigns supreme. But how well does this kind of cooking translate to home kitchens? We gave a few recipes a go…
Ella Walker tested:
Roasted carrots with spiced pumpkin seeds, peaches and crème fraîche
Roast carrots are already a thing of beauty – arguably the burnished spears don’t need gussying up in the least, but this recipe was beguiling. For some reason, one veg, cooked two ways – in this case, roasted and pickled – just sounds super fancy.
The carrots are doused in garlic, honey and spiked with thyme, rosemary and bay – so far, so simple – and then battered by 200-degree heat. My oven may be a bit feeble; they needed double the cooking time Howell suggests, but as the oven was on, I chucked in a chicken too, so there were no serious complaints.
Quick pickling ribbons of carrot makes you feel sophisticated, as does blitzing toasted pumpkin seeds to a crumb. Peaches to serve with it were nowhere to be found (and oh did I hunt), so I opted for conference pears instead – Howell sanctions the swap, and they’re in season.
As a finished salad, it’s quite sweet (cème fraîche keeps the sweetness just about in check, although I reckon sour cream might be better) and makes a great accompaniment to a summery roast, but really, you want to be sat outside with a hunk of crusty bread, eating this in the sunshine. Bring on peach season.
Claire Spreadbury tested:
Salt-baked beetroot with turnips, smoked yoghurt and savoury walnut granola
I have always fancied salt-baking veggies, but had assumed it would be an almighty faff. This recipe requires lots of prep, but none of it is especially difficult. Shopping is the first part, because who has pickled walnuts, smoked rapeseed oil and agave syrup in the cupboard? But these items were surprisingly easy to find at Sainsbury’s, and my total bill was around £30 – quite pricey, but with lots of overs.
Making the salt dough is super easy – just four ingredients. If you don’t have a fancy smoker, you’ll need to smoke your yoghurt the old-fashioned way, which involves hanging salt and yogurt in a muslin cloth, before whisking in smoked rapeseed oil. After three hours with little success, I ended up pushing as much yoghurt as I could through the muslin with a wooden spoon, before giving up and slopping the rest in the bowl.
Making the savoury granola is a doddle and then the final prep-ahead step is whizzing up the dressing. Do allow plenty of time for the veggies to cool before serving, though. I had a hangry family desperate to be fed and was struggling to crack open the scalding hot dough to release the veggies and peel off their skins.
Salt-baking is definitely worthwhile though. The savoury granola is particularly delicious, but the strong smoky flavour of the yoghurt is quite challenging, so go easy on it, and the pickled walnuts might be best left on the supermarket shelf…
Lisa Salmon tested:
Rice pudding with apple compote and milk jam
A tin of rice pudding only costs 33p in the supermarket, so I’ve always thought it just wasn’t worth the effort of making it at home. But the added twist of apple compote and milk jam intrigued me enough to give this recipe a try. After all, what IS milk jam?
Turns out it’s a caramel-type sauce made from milk, sugar and bicarbonate of soda, boiled until it’s brown and sticky. It looks pretty grim, but is really easy to make and tastes lovely. The apple compote was pretty straightforward too – just cooking apples and sugar boiled then pureed, with the addition of diced cooked eating apples. I cooked them for a couple of minutes longer than the two to three minutes Howell recommends, but they could have done with even longer.
The rice pudding itself was also surprisingly simple, though I didn’t bother with vanilla seeds taken from a pod – vanilla extract was a much easier option. I also used a few bits of star anise from a jar.
The result was a step up from the tinned stuff, although not quite different enough to make me bother making it again.
Root by Rob Howell, photography by Alexander J Collins, is published by Bloomsbury Absolute, priced £26. Below are two recipes from the book for you to try.
ROASTED CARROTS WITH SPICED PUMPKIN SEEDS, PEACHES AND CRÈME FRAÎCHE
(Serves 4)
For the spiced pumpkin seeds:
100g pumpkin seeds
1 pinch of paprika
1 pinch of allspice
1 pinch of ground coriander
For the pickled carrot:
1 carrot, peeled and sliced thinly with a mandolin
Pickle liquid
For the pickle liquid:
(Makes about 1 litre)
600ml white wine vinegar
400ml caster sugar
300ml white wine
For the roasted carrots:
2 bunches of carrots (about 16 carrots), green tops discarded
6 thyme sprigs
6 rosemary sprigs
2 bay leaves
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3tbsp runny honey or agave syrup
3tbsp rapeseed oil
Juice of 1 orange
2 peaches, destoned and sliced, to serve
100g crème fraîche, to serve
Fennel fronds, torn, to garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4. Scatter the pumpkin seeds over a baking tray and scatter over the spices. Give it all a shake to combine. Place the tray in the oven for 10–15 minutes, until seeds are lightly coloured and nicely toasted. Leave to cool, then transfer to a food processor and blitz to a crumb. Set aside.
Place the pickling ingredients in a saucepan with 300ml of water. Whisk them together and place them over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then immediately remove from the heat. Leave the liquid to cool, transfer it to an airtight container and keep refrigerated until using. Place the thinly sliced carrot in a bowl and pour over enough pickle liquid to cover. Set aside.
Increase the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas Mark 6.
Make the roasted carrots. We don’t peel our carrots, as we feel the softer skin of the variety we use adds to the texture of the dish, but you can if you prefer. Place the carrots in a baking tray and scatter over the herbs and garlic, and drizzle over the honey or agave and the rapeseed oil. Season well and toss everything together in the tray. Place the tray in the oven and roast the carrots for 15–20 minutes, then add the orange juice and roast for a further two minutes, or until the carrots are tender but retain a good bite.
Chop the roasted carrots into random sizes and divide them equally among four plates. Scatter over the pumpkin-seed crumb, then drizzle over any roasting juices. Add the peach slices and the pickled carrot. Finish with a spoonful of crème fraîche and garnish with the fennel fronds.
RICE PUDDING WITH APPLE COMPOTE AND MILK JAM
(Serves 4)
For the apple compote:
20g caster sugar
3 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 3mm dice
For the milk jam:
65g caster sugar
280ml whole milk
½tsp bicarbonate of soda
For the rice pudding:
100g pudding rice
650ml whole milk
50ml double cream
65g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla seeds (scraped from ½ vanilla pod)
1 bay leaf
1 star anise
Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
Method:
For the apple compote,tip the sugar into a medium saucepan and add the sliced cooking apples. Place the pan over a medium heat and allow the apples to break down for about five minutes, until soft. Transfer the apple mixture to a food processor and blitz until smooth. Return the purée to the pan and add the diced Granny Smiths. Place the pan over a low heat and cook the sauce for about two to three minutes, until the apples have softened. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Make the milk jam. Place all the ingredients into a small saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to a low simmer. Cook, whisking occasionally, for approximately 15–20 minutes until you have a dark brown caramel. Leave to cool. (Any leftovers will store in the fridge for up to five days.)
Rinse the pudding rice in a bowl and repeat until the water runs clear. Tip the rice into a large saucepan and add the remaining pudding ingredients. Place over a low heat and cook, stirring well, for 15 minutes, or until the rice is softened but still has a little bite.
Spoon the apple compote equally into the bottom of each bowl. Top with equal amounts of the rice pudding and spoonfuls of milk jam, adding as much as you wish. Serve warm or cold.
