Purées

Once you have your beautifully cooked tender vegetables, why not turn them into a purée? This is a lovely way for you to alter the textures on your plate.

A purée is made simply by mashing or sieving the cooked vegetable. There are four different ways to achieve this. The first is with the common potato masher, with which you pound the vegetables until you have got rid of all the lumps. For soft root vegetables you can use a kitchen sieve – push them through with a wooden spoon. A posher way to purée is with a food mill: every continental kitchen has one. You pile in the vegetables and turn the handle; different meshes can be fitted to alter the texture. The food mill is particularly suitable for firm-textured vegetables such as cauliflower, onions, peas or beans. An electric food processor is possibly the fastest method, although you need to stop every few seconds to scrape down the sides to ensure a smooth consistency. Do not use one for starchy vegetables, however, as the fast blade tends to make them a little rubbery.