Pea panna cotta and lovage soup with salt baked beetroot, pea shoots & pansies

Gary Pearce

Gary Pearce

15th October 2014
Gary Pearce

Pea panna cotta and lovage soup with salt baked beetroot, pea shoots & pansies

Pea panna cotta and lovage soup with salt baked beetroot, pea shoots & pansies

Photography credit to Repertoire Food and Design Limited, taken from Penny Ericson’s new cookery book ‘Meats, Eats, Drinks and Leaves’

Serves 4 as a starter

Equipment: hand blender, fine sieve, dariole moulds, food processor

Ingredients

  • Pea panna cotta:
  • 300g peas, blanched (frozen are fine)
  • 100ml milk
  • 400ml double cream 2 g powdered agar agar (see page 355) salt & pepper
  • Lovage soup:
  • 500g lovage
  • 2 medium potatoes (Maris piper), peeled & chopped
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • A knob of butter
  • 500ml milk
  • 200ml chicken stock
  • Salt & pepper
  • Salt-baked beetroot:
  • 3 large beetroots
  • Salt crust:
  • 750g plain flour
  • 750g coarse sea salt 100g caraway seeds
  • 40ml rapeseed oil
  • 362ml water flour for dusting
  • Micro pea shoots & pansies for decoration

Method

For the pea panna cotta:
Make a pea purée by blitzing the blanched peas with a hand blender and pass through a fine sieve then season to taste.
Next bring the milk and cream just to the boil.
Add the agar agar until completely dissolved then add the pea purée.
Check seasoning, pour into dariole moulds and refrigerate to set.
When ready to use, run the moulds under warm water, give them a little spin and gently jiggle to coax the panna cottas out.
For the lovage soup:
Sweat the onions in butter without colour.
Add the potatoes, milk and stock and simmer until the potatoes are very soft.
Blitz with a hand blender until smooth adding the lovage a bit at a time.
Pass through a fine sieve, season to taste and chill until ready to serve.
Can be served warm or chilled.
For the salt-baked beetroot:
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Make the salt crust dough by combining all ingredients in a food processor to make a dough.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1cm thick then wrap and seal the beetroot and bake for 1 hour.
When ready to serve cut away the crust, trim and slice.

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