THE AUTUMNAL VEGGIE ONE

A risotto...sbagliato...with Cavolo Nero in it. Oh Stunning!

THE AUTUMNAL VEGGIE ONE

SNACK - POLENTA CHIPS

STARTER - CARROTS, BUTTER BEANS AND BITTER PINKS

MAIN - CAVOLO NERO RISOTTO WITH MUSHROOMS AND CHESTNUTS

PUDDING - FRITTELLE DI RICOTTA AND CHOCOLATE SAUCE

It’s been a while since we saw a fully vegetarian menu here, and I absolutely could NOT let this sensational season pass us by. I spent the last two Autumns in the wilds of North Wales as the home economist on I’m a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here. YEAH I BET YOU DIDN’T SEE THIS INTRO GOING THAT WAY. 

Anyway, one of my responsibilities was the food that campmates ate in camp every night. My brief was to source strange, unusual and rare fruit and vegetables to challenge the campmates. Usually, in the Australian version of the show, this is an easy job, given the access to the massive variation of tropical produce. In Europe, we are a little more limited, especially in this less bountiful season. Or so I thought. I had little else to do for much of the series, and needed to provide over 80 different vegetables, so I spent a long time researching and speaking to foragers, suppliers and producers. It was genuinely fascinating, and whilst I did have to resort to some tropical options for shock factor (turns out Western veg just isn’t that exciting looking), I learned a lot about what’s around in this season. Brassicas are heaven right now, in their absolute peak, as are your apples, pears, quinces, medlars, all sorts. Chestnuts and mushrooms too, that forest floor is POPPING OFF. Some of the chicories and bitter leaves are ready and obviously your root veg is at its absolute best.

Circling back to brassicas though, they are just one of those essential Autumn items I can’t live without - broccoli on pasta, cauliflower under cheese, kale in soup and my favourite, cavolo nero. It’s got a bit more body and flavour than kale, holds well when cooked and therefore makes a sublime, soft purée in the deepest green. I simply had to make a risotto with this gorgeous leaf and top it with garlicky, buttery fried mushrooms and chestnuts - a peak Autumn dish and a sublime centrepiece for a veggie dinner. 

Our starter today is a glorious warm and soothing carrot and butter bean purée, served with those bitter pink leaves for dipping and some extra sweet and delicious roasted carrots. It’s a starkly contrasting colour palette to our camo main; a riot of fuschias and oranges that is fabulous for a party of veggies and vegans.

Our snack and our pudding are not veg-centric as such, however they are iconic dinner party dishes. I love a fried item and we are kicking off this menu with a super easy and delicious one - polenta chips. Mine are extremely well seasoned with parmesan (or a vegetarian alternative), are easy to prep the day before and taste sublime. As I mentioned last month, we are deep in Hot Pudding Szn and if you’ve got your oil out to fry a snack, why not a pud too? Ricotta Frittelle are little doughnutty pillows of joy, require no proving or resting and are sublime with a classic chocolate sauce. 

So without further ado, I present to you the ultimate Autumnal Veggie Menu.

POLENTA CHIPS

You might notice in the group shot above, the Polenta chips look a lot less golden than the ones in these pictures below. That’s because my first test of this recipe, on DP shoot day, was an unmitigated disaster. I used high quality stone ground polenta and tried to push the liquid limit to the max, so that I would end up with a crispy exterior and an almost molten centre. I pushed it too far, and my chips would barely hold together in the oil, even after a day in the fridge. Sometimes recipes don’t work and sometimes it is the easiest ones that trip you up, and this was one of those times. I went back to the drawing board, swapped my polenta for the cheaper, more stable quick cook kind, reduced my liquid quantity as much as I could bear and the next test was a resounding success. Occasionally the more processed product is genuinely a more stable alternative, and I refuse to be snobby about this. So buy that instant polenta and make these delicious crispy treats.

Makes 18-24

• 150g quick cook polenta 

• 600ml water

• 60g parmesan, finely grated, plus extra for garnish

• 20g butter

• Plenty of salt and a decent twist of black pepper

• A good grating of fresh nutmeg

• 100g fine semolina for dredging

• 700ml vegetable or sunflower oil for frying

The day before, bring the water to the boil in a medium saucepan. Once boiling, whisk in the polenta in a steady stream until fully incorporated and smooth, then turn down the heat to medium. Cook, whisking continuously, for the time stated on the packet (mine was 8 minutes but it can be less), until there is no residual grainy texture when you taste the mix. Take off the heat and whisk in the butter, cheese, plenty of salt and pepper (polenta likes a lot of salt) and nutmeg. The mix will be dense and a bit clumpy - that’s what we want. Line a small tray or dish (I used a 22/22/3 cm tray) with clingfilm; you want to set the polenta in something with at least 2 to 3 cm depth. If you have a tray that’s too big, the polenta can be squidged up to the right depth, it is stiff enough to mould. Spoon in the polenta and smooth using a palette knife or the back of a spoon. You want to make sure there aren’t any big gaps or air pockets in the tray. Cover the top with clingfilm and leave to set in the fridge overnight.

An hour before your guests arrive, remove the polenta from the fridge to cut it. Dust your surface or large tray with fine semolina, remove the clingfilm from the top of the polenta and  invert the tray onto the semolina. Remove the rest of the clingfilm and cut your polenta block into your desired shape; I like rough 6cm/2cm wedges. Don’t worry about any uneven bits as they get the crispiest! Dust the other sides of the wedges in semolina so they are well coated all over.

Heat the oil to 180 in a shallow frying pan, it should be around 3-4 cm deep. 

When the oil is hot, fry the polenta chips in the oil in batches so as not to overcrowd, turning frequently to make sure all sides are lovely and golden, roughly 8 minutes. Frying food to order is better than frying too much and it going cold and soggy before people eat it. Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper, leaving to stand for a minute or so before serving. Plate the chips and shower in more parmesan before serving. 

MAKE AHEAD -

• You can make the polenta mix up to 3 days ahead. Only cut and dust in semolina in the hour before you fry. 

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• If you don’t want to use parmesan then a vegetarian alternative is great, also Grana Padano or a mild pecorino would work too. 

• You can add a herb to this, a teaspoon of thyme leaves or chopped rosemary or even some chilli flakes. 

CARROTS, BUTTER BEANS AND BITTER PINKS

Carrots are an absolute workhorse in the vegetable world. They are a backbone ingredient in so many recipes but rarely get their day in the sun. Their roasted, delicate sweetness works incredibly well here with comforting, velvety butter beans and a selection of bitter pink leaves and roots. It’s a really sophisticated, delicious and stunning sharing starter that brightens up a November table. I love the hits of creamy, soft, sour and bitter here and as usual it is easy to prep ahead and then bring together right before serving. 

Serves 6 as a starter

For the puree 

• 1 660g jar of good quality butter beans, drained and liquid reserved

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into quarters lengthwise

• 4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

• Plenty of salt and pepper 

• Zest of half a lemon

• 35g butter or vegan butter

For the roasted carrots 

• 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into quarters lengthwise

• 6 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

• Plenty of salt and pepper

• 1 tsp runny honey

For the salad

• 2 red chicory, trimmed and leaves separated

• 1 radicchio treviso, trimmed and leaves separated

• 8 radishes, thinly sliced

• 1 tsp dijon mustard

• 2 tbsps sherry vinegar

• 1 tbsp runny honey 

• 50ml extra virgin olive oil

• Salt and pepper 

• Bread to serve

Preheat the oven to 180. To make the purée you need to roast the carrots and garlic (whole, in their skins) and you can roast all the carrots at this point too if you wish and reheat the rest before serving. Toss the carrots and garlic in the oil, salt and pepper on a large oven tray and roast for 35-40 minutes until tender and slightly caramelised. Once out of the oven, drizzle the honey all over the carrots. Meanwhile warm the butter beans and 150ml of their liquid from the jar in a pan until bubbling. Add in the lemon zest and butter and transfer to a blender or food processor with the roasted pieces 2 carrots. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of their skins into the blender too, then blitz for a few minutes until you have a smooth and rich puree. Add a splash of water if it feels too thick. 

For serving, reheat the purée gently, adding water if necessary, and reheat the remaining roasted carrots in a warm oven, around 160 for 15 minutes. 

Whisk together the dressing ingredients, then toss the leaves in the dressing in a large bowl. Plate the purée in the middle of a large plate or platter, then dress around it with the salad and roasted carrots. Serve with warm bread. 

MAKE AHEAD -

• You can make the purée and roast the carrots up to 3 days ahead and simply reheat before serving.

• The dressing can be made up to 3 days ahead also, only dress the leaves right before serving

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• Carrots could be easily subbed for squash or pumpkin here

• Butter beans could also be cannellini or chickpeas, but I prefer butter beans because they are quite simply more buttery

• If you can’t get hold of radicchio treviso (shaped conveniently for dipping), then normal radicchio or even endive would be delicious too.

• Vegan butter and maple syrup instead of honey make this a vegan BABE

CAVOLO NERO RISOTTO WITH MUSHROOMS AND CHESTNUTS

Ok so this isn’t sbagliato as per my intro (meaning wrong or mistaken, so a negroni sbagliato is “wrong” because it has prosecco instead of gin in it), in fact this risotto is anything but wrong, it is unbelievably right. A risotto is a dark horse dinner party dish, as you can make your base ahead of time, chill it down and then reheat and finish when you need it, rather than slaving over a hot stove for 30 minutes while your guests get pissed. Here, finished with the creamy and bright cavolo nero purée and then topped with the feisty fried mushrooms and chestnuts, it's a real showstopper. You can of course leave the topping if you are short of time or patience, even without it is a truly glorious main course. 

For the purée

• 400g cavalo nero, leaves stripped from the stalks and roughly chopped (roughly 280g weight of just leaves)

• 60g butter

• 15g flat leaf parsley, stalks and leaves

For the risotto base

• 500g arborio rice

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 2 tbsps olive oil

• 150ml dry white wine

• 60g butter, diced

• 1.6l hot vegetable stock

• 100g of parmesan cheese, grated

For the mushrooms

• 300g mixed mushrooms - I used chestnut, shitake and shimej

• 180g cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped

• 100ml olive oil

• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced

• 1 tsp chilli flakes 

• 1 tbsp butter (optional)

• Salt and pepper

To make the purée, bring a large pan of water to the boil and salt well. Have your blender or food processor set up and nearby. Boil the cavolo nero in the water until tender, around 5 minutes. Test this by removing a leaf and tearing it - if it comes apart easily it is ready. Use tongs or a kitchen spider to remove the leaves from the water into the blender along with the butter, parsley and small ladle of cooking water. Blitz until very smooth, then decant into a large flat dish and leave to cool before chilling in the fridge until needed. 

To make the risotto base take a large heavy bottomed pan and heat the oil and 30g of butter on a medium heat. When the butter sizzles, add the onion and sweat for 8 minutes or so. When the onion is soft, add the rice and mix really well. At this point you need to keep an eye on the rice as it can burn quite easily. What we want is the rice to move in the fat and toast, which forms a protective shell around the rice grain. I like to toast my rice, moving it all the time to prevent burning, for around 4 minutes until it smells intensely ricey. After the rice has toasted, add the wine and stir well to combine. Keep stirring the rice and wine until the wine has been completely absorbed and the mix has dried out. Now you can add 2 ladles of your hot stock, stir well and set a timer for 14 minutes. You don’t have to stir constantly but you do need to keep things moving, and each time the stock has been completely absorbed and the mix is dry, this is the right moment to add more. After 14 minutes of this, take the pan off the heat and pour the mix onto a large tray and spread it out, this helps it cool down much quicker, you can also draw diagonal lines through the mix with my spoon to help the heat escape. If it's a cool day, stick this outside for 20 minutes or so before fridging, if not, let it cool to body temp before covering with cling film and popping in the fridge until needed. Keep the remaining stock for finishing the risotto later. 

For the mushrooms, heat the oil in a large frying pan on a high heat, then add in all the mushrooms. Fry them until they are golden on all sides, then add the chestnuts, garlic and chilli and butter if using and fry for another 2 minutes before removing from the heat. 

When you have eaten your starter, reheat the stock, pop the risotto base into a pan, breaking up any really solid bits with a spoon to speed up heating and add a ladle of stock to it on a medium heat. Be attentive, the risotto will absorb lots of stock here and potentially catch, so add more stock if you hear it sizzling. In another frying pan gently reheat the mushroom mix. Once bubbling, continue adding stock to the risotto as before until the grains are just tender, around 5 minutes. Let your last addition of stock be absorbed and then pour in the purée and stir well to combine. Cook for 1 more minute, then remove from the heat and add the butter and cheese, mixing hard. If the risotto is a little bit stiff, add some more stock. 

Serve immediately topped with the hot mushrooms and chestnuts. 

MAKE AHEAD - 

• The puree and the risotto base can be made up to 3 days ahead.

• You can make the mushroom topping up to 2 days ahead and reheat when needed.

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• If you can’t find cavolo nero, kale will work just as well. 

• Use vegan butter and cheese where you need to, this risotto will still be gloriously creamy.

• If you aren’t keen on chestnuts, leave them out. I love the sweetness they add here though.

FRITTELLE DI RICOTTA AND CHOCOLATE SAUCE

I first made this recipe on my instagram a few years ago for a series called “Alotta with Ricotta”, where I showcased the versatility of ricotta. These little fritters, typically found in Italy around Carnevale, are more like small doughnuts but about 10 times easier. Our batter uses baking powder so that they puff and my challenge here was to test whether the mix can be made ahead of time without losing its all important rise. I’m happy to report that the batter CAN be made ahead and the baking powder can be simply added right before frying, meaning you have less to do while your guests are here. I love a simple chocolate sauce with these, you can’t go wrong with it and it keeps well too. These can also be fried in the same oil you used for the polenta chips, no waste here!

Makes 24 

For the Frittelle

• 2 large eggs, beaten

• 300g ricotta

• 100g golden caster

• 150g plain flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp cinnamon

• 100g golden granulated sugar for rolling

For the chocolate sauce

• 200g dark chocolate, chopped 

• 130 ml double cream

• 65 ml whole milk

• 30g runny honey

• 65g golden caster sugar

• Generous pinch of sea salt

• 700ml vegetable or sunflower oil for frying

• Creme fraiche to serve

To make the chocolate sauce, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat very gently until you have a smooth, glossy sauce. Take care to do this slowly, mixing often. Set aside until needed.

Make the frittelle mix by first whisking the eggs, sugar and ricotta together until smooth. Then add the flour and cinnamon and fold in to make a smooth, thick batter. If using straight away, add the baking powder with the flour and cinnamon. If not, you can refrigerate the batter until 30 minutes before you need it, then remove from the fridge and leave to stand so that it loses a bit of the fridge chill. If you are using the same oil from the polenta, strain it through a fine sieve before heating to remove any bits that could burn. While the oil is heating in a deep frying pan or saucepan, whisk the baking powder into the batter. When the oil is 170 degrees it is ready to use. Prepare a tray with the sugar on it and a tray lined with kitchen towel. Using two teaspoons, take heaped spoonfuls of the mix and scrape into the hot oil. Fry in batches and turn regularly as the puffs cook, until they are a deep golden brown. Then using tongs or a kitchen spider, remove the frittelle from the oil, drain for 30 seconds on kitchen paper before moving to the sugar tray and shaking them well so they become coated, this is easier when they are hot!

Continue to fry and sugar in batches and then serve with the warm chocolate sauce and creme fraiche too if you like.

MAKE AHEAD - 

• The batter can be made up to 1 day ahead, and mixed with the baking powder just before using as instructed

• You can make the chocolate sauce up to 5 days ahead and keep it in the fridge. Just reheat gently before serving.

SUBSTITUTIONS - 

• Add more spices or lemon or orange zest to your batter if you like. 

• If you don’t want to do chocolate sauce, warm custard and jam or marmalade is great, or any type of fruit curd, or chantilly cream. 

TIMEPLAN 

This first plan should help you see what you can get done in advance, so that for each course on the day you have at least 1, maybe 2 major parts of it taken care of. I appreciate that not everyone’s weeks are easily peppered with dinner party prep, but if you’re hosting after work or on a day where you can’t be in the kitchen, getting ahead is going to save your arse.

MISE-EN-PLACE

This is the fancy name we give to the food prep each section in the restaurant needs to do for their dishes. Hopefully breaking down each dish like this will help you feel organised. 

Use the hour before your guests arrive to organise your space too- I find it helpful to group ingredients by dish so it is all in the same place. Little ramekins are really useful for this.

STYLING

POLENTA CHIPS

These are stunning piled high and covered in a blanket of frothy parmesan cheese, just like all good cheese fritters are in restaurants these days. If it’s easier for you to get around the room with smaller plates then do, otherwise one main course plate, ideally blue to offset the golden chips, is gorgeous. 

CARROTS, BUTTER BEANS AND BITTER PINKS

This is SUCH an attractive dish and you have the option of going quite modern with your plating. If you want to do as I suggest and have this as a sharing plate, then a soft heap of purée surrounded by the angular leaves and carrots looks fabulous. Dot the radishes over last, I love the shapes this dish has and the radish rounds read best at the top. Greens, greys and pale blues work with this colour palette but so would terracottas and pale pinks - it’s a great one to experiment with! If plating individually I would suggest a dollop of purée to the left of the plate and a neat pile of leaves and carrots to the right.

CAVOLO NERO RISOTTO WITH MUSHROOMS AND CHESTNUTS

We love a big family style risotto here at The Dinner Party, so I think one or two big platters heaving with green goodness and topped with the mushrooms and chestnuts look spectacular. Blues and creams are best to offset the greens and browns in this dish. Individual serves follow the same style but just on main course plates. 

FRITTELLE DI RICOTTA AND CHOCOLATE SAUCE

These are a dream pudding to assemble, they are impossibly beautiful in their sugar spiked brownness. A big old pile is so fun to bring to the table, drizzle in the sauce but with extra for dipping. Alternatively a single serve could be 3 or 4 drizzled in sauce with a spoonful of creme fraiche too. Any sweet vintage plate will do here, these feel quite old fashioned and indulgent to me and reminiscent of little tea rooms doing hot doughnuts.