Baked autumn vegetables in a warm chestnut broth
Autumn vegetables are cooked in horseradish butter and served in a comforting chestnut broth, topped with crisp baked greens.
Ingredients
For the baked autumn vegetables
- 200g/7oz salted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2.5cm/1in fresh horseradish, finely grated
- pinch fine sea salt
- pinch unrefined caster sugar
- 1 carrot, cleaned and roughly chopped
- 1 parsnip, roughly chopped
- ¼ celeriac, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 red onion, roughly chopped
- 2 extra-large Jerusalem artichokes, washed and roughly chopped
- 2 baby beetroots, washed, topped and tailed and roughly chopped
- ¼ red kuri squash, seeds removed, roughly chopped
For the greens
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú spigarello, roughly chopped
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú kale, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp extra virgin rapeseed oil
- pinch fine sea salt
- pinch unrefined caster sugar
For the chestnut broth
- 180g/6oz cooked chestnuts (either tinned or vacuum-packed)
- 400g/14oz full-fat milk
- 25g/1oz unsalted butter
- 10²µ/â…“o³ú muscovado sugar
- 10²µ/â…“o³ú molasses
- 5g/â…›oz fine sea salt
To assemble
- 24 red grapes, halved
- 1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
- 4 tbsp smoked rapeseed oil
- 8 sprigs lemon thyme, leaves picked
Method
To make the baked autumn vegetables, preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5.
Warm the butter in a pan and add the garlic and horseradish. Mix well and remove from the heat.
Place the vegetables in a large bowl and season lightly with salt and sugar, then drizzle over the garlic and horseradish butter.
Line a roasting tray with kitchen foil so that it comes up and over the sides of the tray. Scatter the vegetables in the tray in a single layer (cut-side down, which helps them absorb the butter). Top with another layer of foil and seal the top and bottom layer to trap the steam. Place in the oven to cook the vegetables until completely tender, but still holding their shape: this will take about 45 minutes.
Carefully open up the foil so that the vegetables are now exposed, then return to the oven for another 5–10 minutes to brown.
Meanwhile, toss the spigarello and kale with the oil, salt and sugar in a separate baking tray and bake in the oven until crisp (about 8–10 minutes, but keep an eye on it as the greens can easily brown.
Remove both trays from the oven: the autumn vegetables should be tender, buttery and golden-brown and the leaves crisp. Keep warm.
To make the chestnut broth, bring everything to a simmer with 300g/10½oz of water and cook for 5 minutes. Leave to cool slightly and then blend in a blender or food processor until smooth.
To assemble, put the grapes in a small bowl and drizzle over the white balsamic vinegar and smoked rapeseed oil. Put the vegetables into a large warm bowl and drizzle over the juices from the roasting tray.
Divide the vegetables between 4 plates, scatter the lemon thyme over the vegetables, and top with the flavoured grapes, then scatter over the crisp leaves. Drizzle some broth over the top and serve.
