Jane Devonshire -Roasted Broccoli with Romesco Sauce and Roast Garlic Tahini
Jane Devonshire
Jane Devonshire, one of our fabulous Foodie Book Club Chefs, cooked up a storm for our Facebook Live Lockdown Lunches, and I didn’t expect anything else from her.
Way before Jane became 2016 MasterChef champion, she was a champion to her family, cooking for her husband and four children was the inspiration many of the dishes which helped her become MasterChef champion.
Jane was the only one to be surprised about winning MasterChef, everyone who watched her, could see how much talent she had and as the weeks progressed, how much her confidence in her own abilities grew.
Jane shared, “Winning MasterChef was a complete surprise. I decided that I wanted to experience as many things as I could. I wanted to throw myself into everything,” As with everything in her life, she did just that.
After her success on MasterChef, Jane took the opportunity to work with other talents in the culinary industry.
Michelin-starred chefs such as Michael O’Hare, Marcus Wareing, Michel Roux Jnr and Atul Kotchar to name a few, as well as appearing on numerous TV and radio programmes including BBC Breakfast, Loose Women, South Today and Woman’s Hour.
After taking a few months off, Jane realised that she’d found a “new love”. A passion for presenting and chatting to people while demonstrating to audience around the country.
“I love the creative side – teaching, writing, developing recipes,” said Jane “I spend hours in my kitchen just working on new dishes, which is what I’ve always done I suppose. But talking to people about food and presenting to them has been what I’ve really enjoyed the most.”
Drawing from her own journey with gluten free cooking for her son Ben, Jane began her first book, Hassle Free Gluten Free.
At the core of all Janes cooking is her family.
“Food should be a pleasurable experience for everyone. I get such immense pleasure from being able to create moments when we sit and eat together. Who cares if it’s sausages and mash or a macaroni cheese?” she laughs. “It’s about sharing food. Food brings people together.”
Jane was inspired to cook by her Nanny Pearce who was a baker of cakes, her mother whose wholesome traditional fare went hand in hand with her father’s love of the markets.
One of her four children Ben, was diagnosed with Coeliac disease when he was just two years old. This began her journey into the world of gluten free cooking for her family, and now, two cookbooks later (Hassle Free, Gluten Free and out December 24th , Vegetarian Hassle free, Gluten Free) Jane is a master of making gluten and vegetarian free dishes that everyone will love.
So, you can see why I was filled with joy when Jane came on board with Foodie book Club and agreed to share a dish live for Lockdown Lunches
If you didn’t get a chance to catch Jane cooking live, don’t worry, you can watch on the Foodie Book Club YouTube channel.
Roasted Broccoli with Romesco Sauce and Roast Garlic Tahini
@absolute_cooks photography by @mike_cooper_food #VHFGF #VegetarianHassleFreeGlutenFree @CoeliacUK
I am very lucky as my son Ben will eat broccoli and carrots raw as a snack as soon as he enters the house. This is also a favourite of Sam’s, so much so he asked for the recipe to make it for his girlfriend! The colours are really beautiful on the plate and it tastes delicious.
I love this recipe from my new book Vegetarian Hassle Free Gluten Free, although not the most festive of ingredients the bright red and green of the dish makes it the perfect vegetarian Festive starter or lunch especially if you want something a little lighter
Enjoy,
Jane
Serves 4
For the broccoli
1 large broccoli
sunflower oil
1 small bulb of garlic
sea salt and black pepper
For the Romesco Sauce
125g blanched almonds
225g roasted red peppers from a jar, plus 2 tablespoons brine from the jar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
50ml extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
For the tahini dressing
1½ tablespoons tahini
2–3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½–1 tablespoon lemon juice
pinch sea salt
To serve (optional)
Toasted flaked almonds
Drizzle of chilli oil
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas Mark 4.
Method
Cut the broccoli into steaks about 1.5cm thick; don’t waste any florets that fall off, place them on an oiled baking tray with the broccoli steaks.
Lightly coat the broccoli with a little oil and season with sea salt and black pepper.
Cut the garlic bulb in half horizontally and place cut-side down on the baking tray.
Transfer to the oven and roast for about 20 minutes, turning once halfway through.
You want the broccoli to be tender and golden brown on the outside.
While the broccoli is roasting, make the romesco sauce.
Place all the ingredients into a blender and pulse. I like to keep this with some texture in it, so you want a mixture slightly coarser than hummus; chunks of almond are fine.
My tip
If you don’t have a food processor, use ground almonds and very finely chop the red pepper, and combine with the rest of the ingredients.
To make the tahini dressing, squeeze half of the garlic from the roasted garlic into a pestle and mortar and add the tahini. Combine well until it forms a smooth paste and add the olive oil, lemon juice and salt to make a smooth sauce. If you like lots of garlic add more from the roasted bulb.
To serve, place the romesco sauce on the bottom of a plate, arrange the broccoli, including any little crispy bits, over the top and drizzle with the tahini dressing. I like to dress this with lightly toasted flaked almonds and a drizzle of the chilli oil.
My Tips
Don’t be put off by the different processes, they are very straightforward.
The sauce and tahini dressing can be made the day before and kept in the fridge.
Any leftover roasted garlic will keep in the fridge and is great to add to dressings or sauces.
