Winter Salad with Pea & Beetroot Purée

Method

For cooking the flamingo peas:

1. Place in a pan, cover with plenty of water, cover and simmer until tender ( about 30 - 40 minutes) topping up with water if necessary. I like to add a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme too. One of the beauties of these particular split peas is that they hold their shape pretty well, even when cooked through rather than collapsing to a wet mush. Season well.
2. Although the pea and beet purée recipe only calls for 300 g cooked pulses I’d recommend cooking an entire 500 g bag of the split flamingo peas (giving you well over a kilo of cooked peas)

For the pink flamingo pea and roast beetroot purée:

1. Put the cooked peas, beetroot, garlic, orange juice, tahini, oil, and a good pinch of salt and pepper into a blender and pulse the purée until as smooth as you’d like it. Taste and adjust the seasoning - if your beetroot is particularly sweet you may want to add a dash of cider vinegar.
2. The purée is superb served warm or cold, as a dip, sandwich filling, with roasted vegetables or as part of a salad.

For the salad:

1. Slice the bottom off the radicchio and carefully peel off the leaves, wash and dry the leaves and then rip roughly and place in large bowl.
2. Segment, or slice, the oranges, reserving any juice.
3. Add the oil, a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper to the radicchio and massage gently until the leaves look glossy. Pour over the orange juice.
4. Arrange the leaves on plates with the orange slices, walnut halves and a good dollop or quenelle of the purée
5. Serve with toasted rye bread.