Potato nest on carrot, lemon, cumin puree with basil, cashew pesto and tomato salad
Eva Gapski, 24 years old, Wellington
Potato nest on carrot, lemon, cumin puree with basil, cashew pesto and tomato salad
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 spring onion, finely sliced
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
Puree
3 large carrots, peel, sliced 5mm rounds
1/2 can white beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Potato nests
2 large potatoes, peeled
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
Pesto
3/4 cup cashews, toasted
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 Preheat oven to 180 C.
2 Place tomatoes, spring onions, olive oil and balsamic in a bowl
and mix, set aside to marinade.
3 Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil, add carrots, reduce
to a simmer and cook until tender, drain.
Place the white beans, cumin, garlic, paprika and lemon juice in a
food processor and process until smooth, add the carrots and slowly
drizzle in the olive continuing to process to a smooth puree.
4 For the potato nests, place the potatoes in a spiraliser and
spiralise into fettuccine style long spirals. Sprinkle with
salt.
Heat an oiled frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the potato
spirals and fry for 20-25 minutes or until browned and crispy,
turning occasionally to cook all over.
5 For the pesto, place the cashews, garlic and lemon juice in a
food processor and process until mixture resembles fine
breadcrumbs, add the basil leaves and continue to process while
drizzling in the olive oil until creamy but still with a little
texture. Season with salt and pepper.
6 Spoon the puree into the centre of a serving plate, top with the
potato spirals topped with pesto with the tomato salad in a bowl to
the side.
Please note - This recipe is untested in the MasterChef kitchen.
