Fresh ricotta with raw & preserved vegetables

This home-made ricotta with raw and preserved vegetables is a delicious start to a meal.

This is a dish we serve as a starter at Paper Daisy, and it changes slightly every couple of days in order to get the best out of the produce available.

Fresh ricotta with raw & preserved vegetables

1/4 cauliflower

1/4 butternut pumpkin

2 small yellow beetroot

Small pinch each mustard seed, juniper berries, peppercorns

1 bay leaf

500ml chardonnay vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 each baby Dutch yellow, purple carrot

Macadamia oil

100g roasted pecans

For the ricotta

1 litre full cream milk

200ml pure cream

10g salt

40ml lemon juice

250ml buttermilk

To make ricotta, warm the milk, cream and salt to about 60°C in a pan. Combine lemon juice and buttermilk in a small jug. Remove milk from the stove and stir it to create a strong current in the pan; pour in the buttermilk against the current, so that it combines well; don't stir it or you will create very small, fine and dry cheese curds.

Place pan back onto the heat to warm; don't stir and don't allow it to boil. When it starts to separate around the edge, cover and remove from heat. Allow to rest for 30 minutes. Line a strainer with muslin or a tea towel, place in a large bowl, and use a ladle to carefully scoop out curds and place in the strainer.

Pour all of the remaining whey through the strainer, being careful not to break up the curds. When most of the whey has separated out, remove ricotta from the strainer, stir gently to combine and season.

Cut cauliflower into small florets, trim and peel celeriac and pumpkin and slice as thinly as possible, wash beetroot and slice as thinly as possible. Combine in a bowl, season with flake salt and allow to sit at room temperature. Toast whole spices until fragrant, add bay leaf, 400ml chardonnay vinegar and sugar, bring to the boil then pour over sliced vegetables. Cover and allow to cool at room temperature. It's best to leave it overnight if possible.

Wash and slice carrots thinly, lengthways, season with salt, macadamia oil and remaining vinegar. Drain pickled vegetables, season if needed with salt and macadamia oil. Spoon ricotta onto plates and top with vegetables.

Crush pecans and sprinkle over the plates. Serves 2-4

Guest Chef Ben Devlin.

Ben Devlin is head chef at Paper Daisy at Halcyon House, Cabarita Beach, northern NSW. He was previously head chef at Esquire, Brisbane, and worked at Noma, Copenhagen, under Rene Redzepi. halcyonhouse.com.au/restaurant.