Roasted celeriac, blue cheese and apple stack

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 200g apple, peeled, cored and chopped into 2cm cubes
• 500g celeriac, peeled and chopped into 1cm cubes
• 25g butter
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
• 25g plain flour
• 100g vegetarian blue cheese, crumbled
• 300ml double cream
• ½ tsp rosemary, chopped
• ½ tsp thyme, chopped
• 16 sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
• 600g frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and as much of the liquid squeezed out as possible
• ½ lemon, juice only
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 packet of filo pastry

For the leeks and walnuts

• 15g butter or vegan margarine
• 3 leeks, washed and finely sliced
• 30g broken walnuts
• 20g lemon thyme, chopped
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Special equipment: one food ring 6cm deep 8cm wide (approximately)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6. Place the celeriac and apple in a lined roasting tin and drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes or until the vegetables have started to soften.

2. Once the apple and celeriac are nearly cooked, fry the shallot in the butter then mix in the flour. Melt in the cheese then slowly add the double cream. Cook until you are left with a fairly thick mixture then add the apple, celeriac and chopped herbs. Set aside.

3. Warm the sundried tomatoes in a pan for 3 minutes. Set aside.

4. Warm the spinach in a frying pan with the garlic and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

5. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Cut the filo into 12 circles with the food ring and place on a baking sheet. Brush with oil and bake in the oven for 5 minutes – be careful as they cook quickly. Leave to cool down.

6. Place a piece of the filo into the food ring then spoon over some of the cream mixture, add a layer of spinach and finally tomato. Continue again to make another layer and top the stack with a third piece of filo. Carefully remove the food ring and serve immediately.

Luxurious leeks and walnuts

This simple side dish is easy to prepare and the walnuts give a wonderful texture.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

1. In a large frying pan, gently heat the butter or margarine and add the leeks.

2. Gently sauté the leeks for five minutes then add the walnuts and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

3. Finally add the lemon thyme, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Our thanks to The Vegetarian Society for providing this recipe.