THE STUDENT VEGETARIAN COOK BOOK

- METHOD -

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F, 200°C, Gas Mark 6. Peel, roughly chop and crush the garlic. Unless it is already soft, finely chop the butter (if using). Add the butter or margarine to the garlic with a little salt and pepper and beat to mix. Spread over the bread. Trim off and discard hard crusts and cut into small squares. Bake as for Croutons on page 87.

-CASHEW ANDVEGETABLE GRATIN

Instead of the gratin being on top, as is more usual, in this dish it forms a crisp crust at the bottom, rather like a tart base. The recipe was given at a vegetarian cookery course run by Lynn Cook at Upper Nidderdale, Yorkshire.

You can vary the main vegetables as you wish: leeks and courgettes, as below, are a particularly good combination; another is broccoli and parsnips. Nor do they have to be stirfried (as broccoli needs blanching before frying, you might as well boil it): it is important, however, to cook them until they are only just tender so that they retain their firmness.

If possible, use stale rather than fresh bread for the breadcrumbs, as fresh tends to form sticky lumps; it is important, however, that they should be freshly grated.

With a larger dish, you will need a little extra sauce: use % pinU450 ml milk, % ozl20 g flour, and another tablespoonful of oil for frying (see step 5).

Allow 30 minutes-I hour for the courgettes to sweat. For 4-5.

- INGREDIENTS -

8 oz/250 g (2 smallish) courgettes

Salt, some of which should be �nely ground

6 oz/190 g stale wholemeal bread

About 4 tablespoons oil

12 oz/375 g (2 large) leeks

4 oz/125 g mushrooms (preferably large)