Roasted tomato, goat’s cheese and asparagus salad with basil puree and lavender oil

Name: Roasted tomato, goat’s cheese and asparagus salad with basil puree and lavender oil
Yield: Serve 4
Ingredients: salt and freshly ground black pepper; 20 g fresh basil leaves (plus some for garnishing); 4 mature goat’s cheeses (or 2 logs), cut to make 20 thin slices; 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar; 8 asparagus tips, prepared; 12 black olives, stoned; 1 teaspoon caster sugar; 20 small (4 cm) vine-ripened tomatoes; 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves; 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar; good sprig of fresh or dried lavender; 1 small garlic clove, crushed; 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation info

Serve
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Pure Vegetarian

By Paul Gayler

Published 2006

About

Summer is the time to enjoy this most fragrant of salads, made with perfectly ripe tomatoes, ideally ripened on the vine. The basil puree and lavender oil completes an air of Provence. I suggest serving this salad with lots of fresh chunky baguette bread to mop up the juices.

Ingredients

For the Basil Puree

20 g fresh basil leaves (plus some for garnishing)
1 small garlic clove, crushed
6

Vegan
Gluten-free
Summer

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. For the basil puree, place the basil and garlic in a blender with the oil and blitz to a smooth puree. Transfer to a bowl.

For the lavender oil, remove the flowers from the lavender plant and place in a bowl. Heat the oil in a pan and