Recipe: Chantelle Nicholson’s harissa-roasted cabbage, miso aioli, pickled shallots, crispy chickpea

Punchy quarters of cabbage roasted in harissa form the base of this show-stopping vegan recipe from Chantelle Nicholson

This is a lesson in contrasting flavours and textures. Aquafaba is used in place of egg to make a miso aioli, there’s a touch of sharpness from pickled shallots, and crunch from fried chickpeas.

Serve this as a starter or part of a sharing spread.

Serves 4

1 hour

Equipment Stick blender

Ingredients

• 1 white cabbage, cut into quarters
• 3tbs rose harissa
• 1tbs apple cider vinegar
• 2tbs rapeseed oil
• 1tbs coriander, chopped

Pickled shallots

• 60g pickle brine (from gherkins, capers or other pickles)
• 1 banana shallot, peeled and sliced into 2mm rounds

Miso aioli

• 50g aquafaba
• 25g miso
• 1tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove, peeled andfinely grated
• 200ml pomace oil
• 1tbs apple cider vinegar

Crispy chickpeas

• 2tbs rapeseed oil
• 120g cooked chickpeas (half a 400g tin)
• ½tsp ground cumin
• 1tbs cornflour
• 4tbs rapeseed oil

To serve

• Nasturtium leaves

Method

Cabbage

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Remove a few leaves of the cabbage and thinly slice them to make the slaw. Set aside for later.

Mix the harissa paste with an equal amount of water. Brush the outside of the cabbage wedges and in between the leaves with the water and harissa mixture. Season the cabbage with a little salt, then roast for 15-20 minutes, or until nicely browned on the outside and cooked through. If you poke the thickest part of the stem with a skewer there shouldn’t be any resistance.

Pickled shallots

Place the pickle brine into a small saucepan and gently warm for a few minutes. Remove from the heat and add the sliced shallots. Leave to pickle for 15 minutes.

Miso aioli

Place the aquafaba, miso, mustard and garlic into a tall jug. Use a stick blender to blend all the ingredients. Slowly drizzle the oil in, little by little, blending as you go until emulsified. This needs to be done with a stick blender, and won’t work if done by hand. Add the vinegar and blend one last time.

Crispy chickpeas

Place the chickpeas into a bowl and add the cumin, cornflour and salt to taste. Heat the rapeseed oil in a non-stick frying pan. When hot, add the chickpeas and cook until crispy.

Coleslaw

To finish, mix the reserved sliced cabbage with the apple cider vinegar and rapeseed oil. Season with salt and add the coriander. Mix again.

To serve

Divide the crispy chickpeas between four plates, then top each one with a wedge of cabbage. Dot the miso aioli around the plate then top with the slaw. Finish with the pickled shallots, and some nasturtium leaves.

Open Kitchen by Great British Chefs (Clearview Books, £25)