Jason Atherton's tips on the best barbecue

Jason Atherton, Michelin-starred chef and owner of 16 restaurants worldwide, is not a fan of beige.

‘Beige is your enemy when it comes to presenting food,’ he says. ‘I always try to make sure there’s a colour clash that catches the eye.’ It’s fair to say Atherton’s cooking has caught the eye of the countless Londoners who flock to his restaurants, from Pollen Street Social to No5 Social. His colourful recipe for chargrilled carrots is inspired by Social Wine & Tapas in Marylebone. ‘Every dish there had to be simple and quick,’ he says, ‘as I never had more than four guys in the kitchen and we could be serving 150 people a night. It’s something you can just stick on the barbecue and away you go.’

Carrots may not seem the obvious option for a barbecue, but Atherton says we’re wrong to dismiss them. ‘I can go on forever about barbecuing vegetables!’ he laughs. ‘The miso here gives the carrots a richness and the charcoal intensifies the flavour. Barbecue season can mean sausages and beef burgers, but you can have an amazing barbecue without putting any meat on the grill.’

Chargrilled carrots with miso aubergine puree and walnut pesto

Ingredients

Walnut pesto

40g walnuts

150ml olive oil

1 garlic clove

80g parsley

Salt

Miso aubergine puree

5 aubergines

2 shallots, sliced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

50g miso paste

150ml olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Chargrilled carrots

2 large bunches of carrots, tops removed and set aside

30g walnuts, crushed

Recipe

To make the pesto, put the walnuts, olive oil and garlic in a blender and blitz until smooth. Add the parsley and blitz again until combined, but not for too long, as the pesto will lose its colour. Season to taste.

For the puree, preheat the oven to 220C. Roast the aubergines until softened, then remove from the oven and cool before scraping out the insides.

Sauté the shallots and garlic in a frying pan over a medium heat until lightly coloured. Add the aubergine and cook together briefly. Add the miso, olive oil and lemon juice and transfer the mix to a blender. Blitz until smooth and add a splash of water to loosen if needed.

For the carrots, bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the carrots and boil for 7-8 minutes, then place in cold water to refresh.

Grill the carrots in batches on a barbecue or in a griddle pan over a medium-high heat until they develop sear marks. To serve, spoon the miso aubergine puree on to the plate, arrange the chargrilled carrots on top and dress with the walnut pesto.

Garnish with carrot tops and crushed walnuts.

‘The Chefs’ Brigade’, with Jason Atherton, is on BBC2 now. This September, Atherton will open The Betterment at The Biltmore, Mayfair (thebettermentmayfair.com)