Sweet and sour vegetables

Difficulty: Difficult

Prep time: 1 day

Cooking time: 1.40 mins

Serving: 4 people

Ingredients:

SWEET AND SOUR BEETROOT

• 250g of apple vinegar ” GUSTOSO”
• 200g of water
• 1 red beetroot, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 Chioggia beetroot, peeled and thinly sliced

MARIGOLD INFUSED CARROTS

• 200g of white wine vinegar
• 100g of white wine vinegar “PRELIBATO” or “VELLUTATO”
• 200g of sugar
• 400g of water
• 20g of marigold flowers, dried
• 8 baby heritage carrots, 4 yellow and 4 purple, peeled and tops reserved for garnish

AMARANTH CRISPS

• 100g of amaranth grain
• 1.5l vegetable oil, for frying
• salt

FERMENTED MILK CREAM

• 1l milk
• 5 drops of liquid rennet
• 1g of lactic acid

PUMPKIN SEED OIL

• 500ml of pumpkin seed oil
• 5g of glice

TO SERVE

• 1 baby courgette, sliced
• 1 bunch of French breakfast radishes, about 4 radishes, sliced
• 1 small celeriac, thinly sliced
• 4 radish seeds, pods kept whole
• apple blossom, to garnish

Method:

Begin by preparing the sweet and sour beetroot. Combine the apple vinegar and water in a pan, bring to a boil, remove from the heat, and allow to cool. Add the beetroot slices and leave to marinate for 24 hours.

For the infused carrots add the white wine vinegar, sugar, and water to a pan and bring to a boil. Add the marigold flowers to the pan and allow the mixture to cool before adding the carrots and leaving them to marinate for 24 hours.

While the vegetables are marinating, make the amaranth crisps. Place the grains in a pan and cover with water, then bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes until very tender.

Spread out the cooked grains in a thin layer across a silicone mat and place in a dehydrator for 12 hours at 55°C to dry out completely

Meanwhile, preheat a water bath to 30°C

Place the milk, liquid rennet, and lactic acid in a vacuum bag and seal. Cook in the water bath for 12 hours

Pour the pumpkin seed oil into a large pan and heat until it reaches 60°C. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the glice to emulsify it slightly. Allow to cool completely, then decant into a squeezy bottle or lidded container and store until ready to serve

When ready to serve, preheat the water bath to 90°C

Transfer the marinated beetroots to one vacuum bag and the carrots to another and seal. Place the courgette, radishes, and celeriac also in separate bags and seal them, then place each bag into the water bath and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the bags from the water bath and refresh quickly in iced water

Preheat the deep-fryer to 180°C

Break the sheet of dried amaranth into pieces and fry them for 1 minute until puffed up and golden. Remove from the fryer and leave to drain on kitchen paper, seasoning with a little salt while still warm

Transfer the fermented cream from its vacuum bag to a blender, skimming off any scum that has appeared on the surface. Blitz to a smooth cream and spoon some onto each serving plate

To serve, pile up mounds of the vegetables over the fermented cream, ensuring an even distribution of each vegetable. Scatter the amaranth crisps over the salad followed by a drizzle of the pumpkin seed oil. Garnish with the reserved carrot tops, apple blossom, and radish seed pods, and serve immediately