Justin Woods, head chef at The Castle Green Hotel, Kendal, and Greenhouse restaurant
I’ve been asked to create a vegetarian tray bake for a friend’s birthday party. Can chef offer some guidance?
Hannah Francis, Penrith
With a vegetarian tray bake you can let your mind wander a little and give it a real showbiz feel. How about a tray bake of figs, ricotta and spinach? Pre-heat your oven to 200C, brush a small lipped oven suitable dish with olive oil, open and rinse a 400g tin of butterbeans and scatter over the bottom of the dish. Make some little holes in the tray of butterbeans and divide 400g of ricotta between the holes. Wash and cook 1 small bag of spinach leaves and place in the dish. Cut 6 figs into halves and place evenly in the dish. Add a punnet of halved cherry tomatoes. Bash 2 cloves of garlic and 1 small bunch of thyme in a pestle and mortar, add 100ml olive oil. Scatter over the top of the dish. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 35 minutes until the ricotta is golden brown and the figs are starting to collapse. Finish with one head of shredded radicchio and a further drizzle of olive oil. Serve with a tossed green salad.
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