A Recipe For December By Minno Kitchen ~ Hasselback Roots & Cavalo Nero Pesto
Hasselback Roots with Black Kale, Lemon & Pecan Pesto
I’m so happy to have Katy from the amazing Minno Kitchen providing a monthly plant based seasonal recipe for the B&F community. Minno Kitchen make indulgently healthy feasts for events of all shapes & sizes, I particularly love Katy’s ethos on food & flavour, her menus are fresh, wholesome & nutritious, full of taste & colour, with a side portion of treats, a little of what you fancy does you good! It’s been a difficult year for all event based businesses & Katy set up Minno At Home during 2020 with delicious pizza kits & grazing feasts delivered to your door.
This recipe is super seasonal at the moment & perfect for these dark, cold days – root veg is sweet & satisfying & perfect for cosying up with. The recipe is vegan & delicious as is, great as a simple supper or would be lovely as a side for Christmas Day lunch, but also easily added to if you are not solely plant-based – sprinkle with a soft goat’s cheese & some dried cranberries, or roast a nice big succulent pork chop or two in the same pan.
You might have some leftover pesto – if so, put it into a jar or airtight container & refrigerate. It’s gorgeous on pasta, tossed through cooked new potatoes or spread onto bread for a jazzy sandwich extra.
Serves 2 as a main // 3-4 as a side
What you will need
For the Hasselback Veggies
2 Potatoes (King Edward or Maris Piper work nicely)
2 Carrots
2 Beetroot
1 Parsnip
A few sprigs of rosemary
A splash of oil (Olive or Rapeseed)
A sprinkle of sea salt
For the Pesto
A good handful of black kale (Cavelo Nero)
Zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 Handfuls of toasted pecans
Sea salt
About 200ml oil (olive or rapeseed)
What you need to do
Start by preheating your oven to 200 conventional/180 fan/as mark 6, then rinse & scrub if necessary, your vegetables. Cut each vegetable in half then, taking it in turns, lay each one between the handles of two wooden spoons & slice every 5mm along the length – the spoon handles will save you slicing all the way through. Place in a roasting tin, drizzle with a little oil & sprinkle with the sea salt. Roast in the oven for 1 hour or until crunchy on the outside & soft on the inside.
Whilst the veggies are in the oven you can make the pesto, you will need either a small processor, a stick blender or Nutribullet. Take the leaves off the stems of the kale & pop into a jug (if using a stick blender) or into the bowl of your processor – next add in the toasted pecans, peeled garlic cloves, lemon zest & a good sprinkle of sea salt. Add in the oil, I really like using rapeseed oil, the deep yellow colour & amazing earthy, nutty flavour work perfectly here. Whizz it all up until you have your required texture, mine is really smooth.
When the hasselback vegetables are ready, take them out of the oven, spoon over the pesto & serve.
