CHICKEN LIVER PARFAIT TARTS WITH WALNUT CREAM, WITLOOF & PECORINO

SERVES 8 AS AN ENTRÉE / PREPARATION 1½ HOURS PLUS OVERNIGHT SOAKING / COOKING 35 MINUTES

The idea for this entrée was to give it a different twist by creating a new texture. I wanted to keep the original ingredient but also add interesting new tastes.

500g flour

2 eggs

25ml water

250g butter, at room temperature,

cut into small pieces, plus 200g butter, cold 250ml port wine

5 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

2 shallots, sliced

1 clove garlic

5 whole peppercorns

500g chicken livers

300g shelled walnuts, soaked overnight in water 100ml extra virgin olive oil a pinch nutritional yeast

4 witloof, cut in half, washed, drained and very finely

sliced (I used 2 red and 2 white witloof) vinaigrette dressing (I used a walnut oil vinaigrette) pomegranate seeds pecorino, shaved, to serve

In a mixer, combine the flour, a pinch of salt, eggs and water and start mixing. Add the 250g butter slowly and keep mixing until you have a firm dough. Rest in the fridge for about 1 hour. Roll the dough between two sheets of paper until it is about 5mm thick and use it to line tart tins (we used small tins to make 32 tarts for eight people as an entrée). Prick with a fork and rest again in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 165°C. Bake the tart shells for about 15 minutes, then cool. When cold remove from the tins. Lower the oven heat to 90℃.

For the chicken liver parfait, put the port, thyme, bay leaf, shallots, garlic and peppercorns in a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer until reduced by half. Strain and allow to cool. Put the chicken livers and the cooled port and shallot mix into a blender and blitz for about 20 seconds. Add the 200g cold butter and keep blitzing. Strain, then put into an oven dish. Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes until firm, then cool. Once cooked, put the mixture in a bowl, season with flaky salt and mix, then put it in a piping bag.

Peel the walnuts as much as possible and put them in a blender with a little bit of the soaking water, some salt and pepper and a nice pinch of nutritional yeast. Blend for a couple of minutes until it becomes creamy.

To serve, season the witloof with vinaigrette dressing. Pipe the chicken liver parfait into the tart shells, then pipe on the walnut cream. Sprinkle over a couple of pomegranate seeds and then the witloof. Finish with gratings of pecorino on top.

I wanted to try and make this dessert vegan for a more sustainable approach but still following the spirit of the original recipe.

FOR THE COCONUT & VANILLA CREAM 1 litre coconut cream

2 vanilla beans, cut in half lengthwise 200g muscovado sugar

10g agar agar

Put the coconut cream into a pan along with the vanilla beans, muscovado sugar and agar agar and bring to the boil. Take off the heat and scrape the seeds from the vanilla beans into the cooling cream. Mix, then pour into a container and let set until cold. Blitz in a blender.

FOR THE CARAMELISED APPLE 1½ litres water

350g white sugar

3 star anise

2 cinnamon sticks juice and peel of 2 lemons 8 apples, peeled and cored

Put the water, sugar, star anise, cinnamon sticks and the lemon peel into a pot. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice. Put the apples into the pan with the sugar syrup and poach for about 10 minutes. When the apples are soft, but not mushy, take them out of the pan. Let the apples cool, then slice. Keep reducing the sugar syrup until it is a thick caramel sauce, about 45 minutes, then strain.

FOR THE HAZELNUT CRUMBLE 100g hazelnuts, chopped 100g '00' flour

100g sugar

100g ground almonds 60ml hazelnut oil

Mix everything in a bowl, then spread onto a baking sheet and cook in the oven at 160℃ for about 12 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool.

FOR THE CONFIT LEMON ZEST 5 lemons

250g sugar

Peel the lemons and remove the white part from the skin. Cut the skin into fine matchsticks, then put in a pot with some cold water and bring to the boil. Strain as soon as the water begins to boil. Repeat five times.

Put 500ml of water in a pot with the sugar and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, then add the blanched lemon peel and let it reduce until thick.

FOR THE APPLE GRANITA

3 apples dessicated coconut, to serve dill leaves, to serve

Peel the apples and freeze them.

To serve, place a generous spoon of coconut cream on the plate, leaving a hole in the middle. Fill the hole with hazelnut crumble.

Top with slices of apple and spoon over some caramel sauce, then a couple of pieces of confit lemon zest.

Sprinkle on some coconut flakes, then grate over a generous amount of frozen apple until all covered. Add a couple of pieces of dill leaf to finish.