Griddled Mediterranean veg with pesto and mozzarella
This is a super easy super delicious dish that is perfect for a hot summer’s day. At this time of year, we have so many incredible ingredients available to us, and this dish uses them in a simple way that will make you feel like you’re on holiday. Packed with nutritional benefits, this can be done either on a griddle pan, under the grill, or even better, on a barbecue!
You can use a ready-made jar of pesto for ease, but making your own is really easy, and you can make it to your taste – you can also use whatever herbs you have, though basil is a classic summer flavour.
If you are catering for a vegan, then take out the mozzarella, and sprinkle pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds for crunch, protein and fibre (you can, of course, add the seeds anyway)
Ingredients
For the vegetable platter base:
Select a choice of whatever you enjoy eating, or try something new! My favourites are from the following list:
Aubergine
Courgette
Tomatoes
Onion / spring onion
Corn on the cob
Mushrooms
Leeks
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
For the pesto:
2 cloves garlic
90g basil leaves and stalks
60g pine nuts
60g parmesan cheese OR 2 tsp nutritional yeast for a vegan version
125-150ml olive oil (depending on consistency required)
Juice & zest of ½ a lemon
Salt and pepper
For serving:
Mozzarella
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Extra basil leaves
Extra pine nuts, toasted
Method
Prep the pesto first so it is ready to top your veg as soon as they are cooked:
In a blender, blitz the nuts and parmesan (or nutritional yeast) first into a dry crumb.
Add the remaining ingredients and blitz to a smooth paste – depending on how loose you would like it to be, don’t add all the olive oil straight away, you can add it gradually until you are happy with the consistency that you like.
Do taste and season accordingly.
Now, prep and cook the vegetables:
- Aubergines and courgettes – slice into approx. 0.5cm rounds or slices
- Tomatoes – keep cherry tomatoes whole, quarter larger tomatoes
- Onions – peel, but keep the root. Quarter, using the root to keep the layers together
- Spring onions – keep whole
- Mushrooms – if using something like a chestnut or button mushroom, keep whole or halve depending on the size. For portobellos, slice thickly
- Leeks – remove root and tough upper leaves. Wash thoroughly as mud can get trapped in the outer leaf layers. Cut into 1cm long pieces
- Corn on the cob – I cut each cob in half, if they are really large ones, you may want to quarter them. They are really tough to cut though so if you can’t cut them into smaller pieces it really doesn’t matter.
- Rub the veg with olive oil and season.
Cook on your griddle, grill or barbecue – this won’t take long, you’re looking for a bit of golden colouration on the outside, if griddling you’ll get the stripe across from the griddle pan which look really lovely.
Once cooked, arrange on a platter.
Drizzle your pesto over the top, and tear your mozzarella to sprinkle over.
Finish with your extra basil leaves, torn up, and / or your nuts and seeds.
Serve immediately.
Nutritional info
This dish is packed with vitamins and minerals, of course depending on what mixture of veg you choose, the range of nutritional benefits will vary slightly, but these beautiful veggies contain so much goodness you’re likely to get a good amount of these key nutrients whatever you choose:
Vitamin A – great for eye health, and is a key antioxidant, helping support against free radical damage.
Vitamin C – supports your immunity and your skin health, also an important antioxidant.
Calcium – ever important for bone and joint health, but supports all over the body, not least with our heart health.
Magnesium – supports our energy production and our sleep health, as well as our bones and heart.
Phosphorus – helps maintain our bones, teeth and muscles as well as supporting our metabolism and energy production.
Potassium – supports our nerves, ad our muscles, and our metabolism, helping stabilise our energy levels and support our digestion
Image Credits: Sonja Colman .