CHARRED VEGETABLE LASAGNE
Prep Time
30 minutes
Total Time
55 minutes
Brad is the Executive Chef of Ventnor’s Botanical Gardens on the Isle of Wight, an island of the south coast of England. The 22-acre garden is situated in an undercliff in which the gardens area is an average of 5 degrees warmer than the rest of the UK.
This is how they have grown all their gems and unique plant kingdom. Mother nature’s produce is literally on Brad’s kitchen doorstep with an abundance of plants. 33,000 plants to be precise and now it is Brad’s job to figure out which ones are edible “with the curators input of course as no poisonous plants need to attend a recipe! And to also create new concoctions such as their new eucalyptus cordial which is amazing with a gin n tonic, with around 30 eucalyptus trees on site, why not!
Brad published his first cookbook this summer titled “from Cook to Chef” focusing on American and British Cuisines as he resided in the states for twenty years. The book had some input from the botanical gardens edible plants including such items as winter bark, eucalyptus and kohlrabi etc. The book also has his insight into the chef world and how to manage a brigade of chefs under pressure.
Brad was recently awarded an AA Rosette award for culinary excellence and is currently working on his second cookbook. A plant based cookbook utilising the botanical gardens unique edible plants such as cactus, cistus, tradescantia flower, nasturtium, lavender, canna plant and many more!
Follow along Chef Brad on his journey here with his new cookbook “from Cook to Chef” with Link below. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1661264875
UK link https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1661264875/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_legEEb503TXR2
Instagram account – bradroechef
Facebook account – Brad Roe
Ingredients
1 large turnip, peeled and sliced into ½cm thick slices, then 3½inch by 2inch slabs
1 large kohlrabi, peeled and sliced into ½cm thick slices, then 3½inch by 2inch slabs
1 large eggplant, sliced into 1cm thick slices, then 3½inch by 2inch slabs
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks
½ tablespoon maple syrup
2 red onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons demerara sugar
200ml balsamic vinegar
100ml water
1 teaspoon salt
1 12oz jar piccalilli
30g vegan cheese
Directions
Start off by adding the onions, vinegar, salt, water and sugar to a medium sized pot, cover with a lid then cook on medium heat stirring periodically.
2. When the onions have almost reduced all the liquid, they should be of a jammy consistency.
Set aside to cool.
3. Using a small pot, bring the sweet potato to a boil then boil until you can insert a knife to one of the sweet potato cubes and the knives comes away easily. Drain, add the maple syrup then puree with a potato masher and season to taste with ground sea salt and ground black pepper.
4. Using a chargrill on high heat, grill the turnip, kohlrabi and eggplant slices using a touch of olive oil on the grill. Char all three until they are thoroughly charred on both sides, at least 4 minutes on each side, turning frequently. Set aside to coolArranging the lasagne
Bottom slice – kohlrabi followed by sweet potato puree then eggplant slice followed by piccalilli, then vegan cheese followed by balsamic onions, then finish the top layer with the turnip slice.
*Chefs note – This can also be made the rustic way by using a baking tray and not cutting into intricate cuts, simply lay out the slices and alternate filling as usual.
