Recipe: Diana Chan's perfect mezze plate

After a cold and long winter, there’s nothing more inviting than spring’s first vegetables – bright green asparagus, spring onions, fresh peas, as well as some leftover winter staples like pumpkin and beetroot. I’ve created a vegetarian mezze platter to share with your loved ones.

Mezze (literally “snack”) is to the Middle East what antipasto is to Italy. It’s designed to share and generally eaten with the hands. Sit on the deck with a glass of mint tea or even a bottle of rosé. I’ve made this vegetarian but you can add sucuk, a Turkish sausage, or halloumi. Most ingredients can be found at Middle Eastern shops or gourmet delicatessens.

The best way to design a mezze platter is to hit the market, see what’s fresh and in season and cook it using spice mixes such as ras el hanout, baharat, dukkah or za’atar. Explore sauces or dips like harissa, baba ghanouj or tahini. It’s such a fun way to eat veggies.

Ingredients (Serves 6)

Kabocha pumpkin with soy butter

½ a Japanese pumpkin, quartered

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp light soy

Fava bean dip

2 cups cooked fava beans, available in tins

2 cloves of garlic

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt, to taste

¼ cup olive oil

Beetroot powder, optional

Grilled asparagus with labneh and toasted pepitas

1 bunch of asparagus

1 tbsp labneh (Greek yoghurt as substitute)

1 tbsp toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Garnish or sides

Turkish bread

Good quality extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Method

■ Start by roasting your pumpkin. Place the pumpkin on a lined baking tray and drizzle with some olive oil. Roast for 40 mins or until soft. Test using a fork to poke through.

■ In the meantime, make the soy butter by melting the butter in a pan and whisking in the soy. Set aside until pumpkin is ready and drizzle over.

■ To make the fava bean dip, place the cooked beans, garlic, lemon juice and salt and pulse in a food processor. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil as you are pulsing and process until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl and set aside. Drizzle over some olive oil and sprinkle some beetroot powder all over the top. You can substitute this with paprika.

■ To cook the asparagus, place a pan or griddle on high heat. Drizzle with olive oil and place the asparagus in. Cook until nice and charred, about 3-5 mins. Remove and place on a serving plate. Add a dollop of yoghurt and top with some pepitas.

■ To assemble, place all three dishes on a large board and serve with some good EVOO, warm Turkish bread and a pot of mint tea.