Meat-free barbecue: Ben Allen’s recipes for flame-grilled vegetables | Barbecue

When it comes to barbecuing, subtlety is often overlooked amid the sizzle of sausages and the char of burgers, but it takes only a light extra touch to elevate your alfresco meal into something really special. I love fire cooking, because that lick of flame turns even simple ingredients into something greater than the sum of their parts. You can take something as ordinary as a leek, say, and transform it over hot coals into a dish that is unrecognisably delicious. Of course, it also helps that you’re then covering that leek in a rich pecorino sauce, but I’m telling you, without those flames, it just wouldn’t be the same. Today’s recipes, which are all taken from our restaurant menu at the Parakeet, show there’s magic to be had in the seeming chaos of smoke-infused vegetable cooking. For those who can’t resist the allure of traditional barbecue fare, they’re all also designed to pair with sausages (wild boar, ideally), thick-cut pork chops or flame-grilled fish.

Flame-grilled leeks with pecorino sauce and mushroom pickle

Prep 20 min
Infuse Overnight
Cook 55 min
Serves 4-6

250g oyster mushrooms, torn into strips
12 medium-large leeks

For the pecorino sauce
25g black peppercorns
25g white peppercorns
1 litre double cream
350g pecorino, grated, or vegetarian alternative
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

For the mushroom pickle
750ml red-wine vinegar
250g brown sugar
100g chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
3 red chillies, roughly chopped (30g)

Start the sauce the day before. Stir all the peppercorns into the cream, cover and put in the fridge overnight to infuse. The next day, tip the infused cream and peppercorns into a saucepan, then cook on a medium heat until reduced by roughly half. Tip into a blender (or use a stick blender), add a quarter of the grated pecorino and lemon zest to the hot cream, and blitz until melted and smooth. Repeat with the remaining cheese and lemon zest a quarter at a time, until they’re all incorporated, then season to taste, set aside and keep warm.

For the mushroom pickle, put the vinegar, sugar and 500ml water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the chestnut mushrooms, garlic and chilli, simmer for five to 10 minutes, until the liquid reduces by a third, then strain into a clean jar.

Now to barbecue the oyster mushrooms – the fire should not be at its hottest, but rather be dying down (roughly 180C/350F), so keep this for one of your last jobs on the barbecue. Put the oyster mushrooms in a basket or metal sieve, then cook them directly on the coals, basting from time to time with the pickle liquid, for eight to 10 minutes, until golden and crisp.

Lay the leeks directly on the hot coals and cook, turning occasionally, for 10-15 minutes, until the flesh inside is bubbling (you could also cook them on a grill rack over the coals, but that will take longer). Lift the leeks off the coals and, when cool enough to handle, peel off and discard the very charred exterior layers. Cut each leek into 10cm lengths, then barbecue again, this time on a grill rack, for a minute or two, just so they take on a little colour.

Spoon two-thirds of the pecorino sauce on to a large platter, top with the leeks and oyster mushrooms, drizzle over the remaining sauce and serve.

Grilled hispi with gribiche and cayenne vinaigrette

Prep 15 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 4

For the cabbage
10 eggs, 4 separated (save the whites for another use)
30g black peppercorns
2 shallots, unpeeled
1 tsp dijon mustard
Juice of ½ lemon
Flaky sea salt and black pepper
250ml sunflower oil
150g bunch parsley, picked and finely chopped
30g lilliput capers, roughly chopped
50g cornichons, drained and roughly chopped
Zest of 4 lemons, or to taste
Up to 100ml buttermilk
2 hispi cabbages
50ml cold-pressed rapeseed oil

For the vinaigrette
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
A pinch of cayenne, to taste
200ml cold-pressed rapeseed oil
Salt

Put all the vinaigrette ingredients in a jar, add a big pinch of salt, then seal and shake until emulsified.

Boil six of the eggs to your desired level of runny yolk (I like them just short of hard-boiled), then run under the cold tap to stop them cooking more and leave to cool. Meanwhile, roast the peppercorns in a sieve balanced over the barbecue coals, until you hear them crack, then leave to cool and transfer to a pepper mill.

Grill the unpeeled shallots on a rack directly over the hot coals, turning often, until soft and sweating, but not mushy, then lift off, leave to cool, peel and finely chop. Peel and finely chop the boiled eggs.

Put the mustard, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and the four raw egg yolks in a blender, then blitz. With the motor going, slowly incorporate 250ml sunflower oil until the mix emulsifies into a thick mayonnaise. Scrape the mayo into a bowl, stir in the chopped egg, parsley, capers, cornichons and lemon zest, then add buttermilk to taste.

Cut the cabbages into quarters, then wash; you want the leaves to be wet, so they steam on the grill. Barbecue the cabbage quarters for about three to five minutes on each side, until charred all over, then arrange on plates, much as you would a bed of leaves. Give the vinaigrette another shake, and season to taste. Pour the gribiche sauce all over the top of the cabbage quarters, drizzle over the cayenne vinaigrette, grind the smoked black pepper on top (I like lots) and serve.

Grilled chestnut mushrooms with habanero, lemon and rocket pesto

Prep 10 min
Cook 10 min
Serves 4 as a side

350g chestnut mushrooms
350-400g wild rocket
50ml neutral oil
8 pickled guindilla chillies
50g parmesan shavings, to finish

For the pesto
150g pine nuts
250g parmesan, grated
350ml cold-pressed rapeseed oil
1 dried habanero chilli, or more if you like spice
Salt and black pepper

Wash and dry the mushrooms and rocket, then put the mushrooms on a plate lined with kitchen roll to drain. Trim the ends off the rocket stalks and set aside the offcuts and about 200g of the leaves for later use in the pesto. Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan on a medium heat, until lightly browned all over, then set aside a handful to use as garnish later. Put all the pesto ingredients and the 200g rocket leaves and offcuts in a food processor, blitz to a chunky pesto, then season with salt to taste.

Cut the mushrooms in half, then toss in a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Barbecue the mushrooms and guindilla chillies, treating the mushrooms like steak by searing them on one side, until al dente and with some colour, then turning and charring on the other side, and being mindful not to overcook them, because they will carry on cooking off the heat. Turn the chillies, too, so they char all over.

Arrange a bed of rocket on each plate, top with some grilled mushrooms and chillies, then drizzle some pesto over the top. Sprinkle on the reserved toasted pine nuts and a few parmesan shavings, and serve.

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