Vegetable Perfection

Book excerpt: ‘Move over Meat’ was the headline in the NY Times Weekend. MasterChef UK winner Mat Follas uses his considerable culinary skills and understanding of flavour to create a collection of wow-factor vegetable recipes for vegans, vegetarians and non-veggies alike. ‘Move over Meat’ was the headline in the NY Times Weekend. MasterChef UK winner Mat Follas uses his considerable culinary skills and understanding of flavour to create a collection of wow-factor vegetable recipes for vegans, vegetarians and non-veggies alike. More than ever before modern chefs use interesting new cooking techniques and ingredients to boost texture, add depth of flavour and make so much more of humble carrots, kale and cauliflower. Vegetable dishes are now storming the menus at some of the world’s best restaurants where chefs are treating fresh vegetable produce with the reverence it deserves and turning ingredients that used to be reserved for side dishes into centrepieces. Organized by type of produce, there are recipes for root veg, alliums and bulbs, potatoes and squash, legumes and pods, sweet vegetables, shoots and stems, mushroom and funghi, as well as basic recipes for a well-stocked chef's storecupboard. Choose from Smoked Parsnips with Blue Cheese, Cauliflower & Truffle Pate, Red Cabbage & Burnt Aubergine Baba Ganoush, Kale Gnocchi, Kimchi, Spring Pistou Soup, Nettle & Wild Garlic Soup with Gruyere Toasts, Red Onion Tarte Tatin, Pea Panna Cotta, Pizza Bianca, Spaghetti Puttanesca, Artichoke Frittata, Champagne Mushrooms, Fennel & Roast Tomato Lasagne or a selection of versatile sauces, ketchups, chutneys, pickles, pestos and oils. Whether you want a revitalizing juice to start the day, a quick summer salad, a slow-roasted winter bake or to preserve an abundance of seasonal produce, you'll find plenty of fresh inspiration here.