Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 452 kcal | 128 kcal |
| Protein | 10.3 g | 2.9 g |
| Fat | 28 g | 7.9 g |
| saturated | 4.3 g | 1.2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 33.6 g | 9.5 g |
| sugars | 23.8 g | 6.7 g |
| Fibre | 13 g | 3.7 g |
| Sodium | 496 mg | 141 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 2 portabello mixed mushrooms
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 large-size parsnips
- 1.8 kilograms large-size carrots
- Salt and pepper
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
For Pesto
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt
- 1 large-sized garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds, soaked 1 hour
Instructions
- Scrape the dark gills out of the portabello caps with a spoon before you slice them. Gills weep a grey liquid that discolours everything the mushroom is tossed with.
- Toss the sliced mushrooms and cherry tomatoes with a spoonful of the olive oil, the garlic clove, salt and pepper. Oil is what carries seasoning onto a mushroom, which otherwise absorbs the salt and still tastes bland on the surface.
- Spread them on a solid sheet and run the machine at 57 °C for 2 hours. This short stage is warming and softening rather than drying: the mushrooms should end up looking lightly cooked and the tomatoes wrinkled but still juicy inside.
- Make the pesto while that runs. Blend the soaked pumpkin seeds with the lime juice, cumin, crystal salt, minced garlic, coriander and the remaining olive oil until thick — soaking is what lets the seeds break into a sauce instead of staying as grit.
- Peel the parsnips and carrots into long ribbons, turning the vegetable as you go. Peeling down one face gives you narrow ribbons from the core and wide ones from the outside, and turning keeps them even.
- Drizzle a little oil over the ribbons and work it in with your fingers. Raw root vegetable is stiff, and the oil relaxes the ribbons enough that they will twirl like pasta.
- Fold the pesto through with your hands rather than tongs. It is thick enough that tongs shred the ribbons before the sauce is anywhere near evenly spread.
- Add the warm mushrooms and tomatoes, scatter the remaining pumpkin seeds over, and take it to the table. This is a dish, not a preserve — dressed ribbons weep water within the hour and nothing here keeps.
