Preparation time
30 minutes
Cooking time
45 minutes
Serves
4 as starter or
2 as main course
This recipe can be adapted to any vegetables that are in season, and in summer you can use peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes to make a crunchy raw version.
By Rachel Khoo
From The Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo
Ingredients
- 4 carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 small dessert apples, cored and quartered
- 2 parsnips, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- salt
- 3½ oz lardons or cubes of smoked bacon (optional)
- 1 cooked beet, peeled and very thinly sliced
- 2 handfuls of salad leaves
For the mousse:
- 7 oz Selles-sur-Cher cheese*
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup whipping cream
For the vinaigrette:
- 4 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- salt
Method
TO MAKE THE MOUSSE:
- Beat the cheese with the milk until soft and lump free.
- Whip the cream to stiff peaks. Add one-quarter of the whipped cream to the cheese and mix together, then fold in the rest of the cream.
- Transfer the mousse to a piping bag fitted with a ⅜-inch plain nozzle and leave in the fridge until needed (it will keep for a couple of days).
TO MAKE THE VINAIGRETTE:
- Mix together the oil and vinegar and season with salt.
TO MAKE THE DISH:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F / 400°C / Gas 6
- Toss the carrots, apples, and parsnips into a large roasting pan. Drizzle with the sunflower oil and season with salt.
- Roast for 45 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and golden.
- Just as the vegetables finish cooking, toss the lardons (if using) into a hot pan and cook until crisp.
- To serve, pipe little blobs of mousse randomly all over a serving plate. Arrange the roasted vegetables and apples, beet, and salad leaves on the plate, and sprinkle the lardons (if used) on top. Finally, drizzle with the vinaigrette.
* Selles-sur-Cher cheese works particularly well. It is a goat’s cheese coated in edible ash that lends a subtle smokiness. But any other soft goat’s cheese will also work.