Little Gem salad with avocado cream and crispy pecans
Serves: 2
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Toby Scott
Little Gem salad with avocado cream and crispy pecans
Recipe by Tom Booton
A deceptively simple starter; lifted to the sublime by the crispy pecans
Serves: 2
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
480Kcal
Fat
40gr
Saturates
7gr
Carbs
20gr
Sugars
18gr
Fibre
7gr
Protein
6gr
Salt
0.1gr
Tom Booton
Tom is head chef at The Grill at The Dorchester in London. Just 27 years old, he is the youngest chef to have held the position there and has won wide acclaim for the way he has modernised one of the captial's most established restaurants
See more of Tom Booton’s recipes
Tom Booton
Tom is head chef at The Grill at The Dorchester in London. Just 27 years old, he is the youngest chef to have held the position there and has won wide acclaim for the way he has modernised one of the captial's most established restaurants
See more of Tom Booton’s recipes
Ingredients
- 4 radishes
- 1 tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil
- ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 small or 1⁄2 medium courgette
- 1 Little Gem lettuce
- 2 sprigs of mint, leaves picked
- 3 sprigs of dill, fronds picked
For the crispy pecans
- 100g granulated or caster sugar
- 100g pecans
- flavourless oil to deep-fry, optional
For the avocado cream
- 1 large ripe avocado, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp crème fraîche
Step by step
Get ahead
Prepare the salad to the end of step 4 up to 3 hours ahead. The leftover crispy pecans keep for up to 1 week in a sealed tub.
- For the pecans, place the sugar and 100ml water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the pecans and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the syrup has reduced and the pecans have a glossy coating. Lift out to a plate using a draining spoon. You won’t need the syrup any more, but if you add a little vanilla and a pinch of salt it’s delicious drizzled on porridge or pancakes.
- To crisp up the pecans, heat about 5cm depth of oil in a medium-large saucepan. Deep fry the pecans in 2-3 batches until crisp – they only take 30-40 seconds. Drain on baking paper then season with flaky salt. If you prefer, you can spread the sticky pecans out on a lined tray and bake in the oven at 220°C, fan 200°C, gas 7 for about 5 minutes or until the sugar has set around the nuts, then sprinkle with salt and leave to cool.
- Thinly slice the radishes and add to a bowl of iced water; chill until ready to serve (this makes them extra crisp).
- Blitz the avocado, lemon juice and a pinch of salt in a blender until smooth, pass through a fine sieve for an extra creamy texture then whisk in the crème fraîche.
- Whisk the rapeseed oil and cider vinegar together with some seasoning to make a dressing. Slice the courgette into very thin discs and toss in the dressing to coat; set aside for 5 minutes to absorb the flavours.
- Separate the Little Gem into leaves and spoon the avocado cream generously into each leaf. To plate up, lay the slices of raw courgette on the plate first then layer up the leaves, drained radishes, herbs and some of the crispy pecans.
