MANCHEGO AND WHITE BEAN SALAD

READY IN

35 mins

COOKING TIME

15 minutes (croutons)

PREP TIME

20 mins

SERVES

Serves 4-6

ingredients

400g cooked white beans, drained

IN STOCK

10g chives, finely sliced

5g Tarragon or 10g Chervil, finely chopped

10g Parsley, roughly chopped

1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced

180g manchego, cut into bite size chunks

1 endive

1⁄2 head of radicchio

1 little gem lettuce or 1⁄2 Romaine lettuce

2 tbsps salted butter

250g loaf of brown bread, crusts cut off and cut into little cubes for croutons

For the vinaigrette:

1⁄4 tsp fennel seeds and 1⁄4 tsp dried tarragon

1 1⁄2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 1⁄2 tbsp sherry vinegar

IN STOCK

2 tbsp creme fraiche

6 tbsp virgin olive oil

IN STOCK

salt and pepper to taste

IN STOCK

Method

For the vinaigrette:

Crush the tarragon and fennel seeds together, not too fine.
Add them to a an empty jam jar and add the rest of the vinaigrette ingredients, apart from the oil, close the lid tightly and shake vigorously.
Add a little oil and shake again. repeat until all the oil is used up and you have an emulsified dressing, it should be quite potent!

Assemble the salad:

In a salad bowl, add the beans and enough of the dressing to coat them well. Keep aside.
Melt the butter in a wide frying pan and start browning the cubed brown bread, keep tossing them until the sides have crisped up, you may need to add a little olive oil towards the end.
Prepare the salad leaves as you wish; they are best kept quite chunky or simply halved.
Mix the leaves with the bean, half of the croutons, half of the cheese and add a little more of the vinaigrette.
Arrange the salad on a shallow serving dish, top with the rest of the cheese and croutons and drizzle a little more of the vinaigrette on top.

Little tip

If you can get hold of edible flowers, particularly from chives or onions, they a beautiful garnish which you scatter over the top of the salad at the end.