Recipe by Michele Biagiola: Garden on a Plate
Ingredients for 4 servings
For the Pea Cream
- 400 grams of peas (depending on seasonal ingredients, you can use cannellini beans, fennel, or zucchini instead of peas)
- 100 grams of green onions
- Extra virgin olive oil
- A pinch of salt
For the Red Croutons
- 40 grams of stale bread, cut into small cubes
- 40 grams of ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 bunch of marjoram
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
Assorted cleaned flowers, herbs, and vegetables for plating
4 marjoram sprigs, 4 tender sprigs of salad burnet, 4 purslane sprouts, 4 tips of wild fennel, 4 zucchini flower tips, 4 sea fennel tips, 4 everlasting flower tips, 4 watercress sprigs, 4 pieces of blanched fresh green onion stem, 4 blanched baby carrots, 4 wood sorrel stems and flowers, 4 stevia leaves, 4 carrot leaves, 4 water pepper leaves, 4 wild garlic leaves, 4 bergamot mint leaves, 4 pieces of glacier mint, 4 red basil leaves, 4 red chard leaves, 4 lemon balm leaves, 4 oregano leaves, 4 pineapple sage leaves, 4 blanched and shelled fava beans, 4 dandelion flowers, 4 fresh garlic flowers, 4 borage flowers, a handful of elderflowers, 4 rose petals, 4 wild strawberries.
Method for the Pea Cream
Gently sauté the green onions in olive oil in a small pan for about 2 minutes. Add the peas and 2-3 ladles of water. Add salt and bring to a boil.
Cook for an additional 5 minutes and remove from heat.
Blend and strain through a chinois. Allow the purée to cool.
Method for the Red Croutons
Toast the bread in a pan with olive oil and the garlic clove for about one minute. Add the tomatoes and wilt them slightly.
Transfer everything to a convection oven. Bake at 100°C for 15-20 minutes.
Plating
Divide the cream into 4 large shallow bowls, making sure the thickness doesn't exceed 4-5 mm.
Place the vegetables on the surface of the cream, spacing them apart so that each spoonful offers a different aroma and taste.
