Dishes like this are seriously out of favour . There are whole social media accounts dedicated to mocking savoury dishes set in gelatine. Naturally they are right up my ally , in fact “If it’s worth eating it’s worth setting in aspic” has become a bit of a motto for me.
So with a glut of tomatoes on my hands and a healthy larder of sauce left from last year I decided to rejoice in the harvest with this summer pudding inspired by the late great Jennifer Paterson. Rather than Jennifer’s straight tomato filling I decided to go for multiple layers , a bit of savoury trifle action you might say. So two layers of tomato spiked with horseradish, basil and spring onion are separated by a layer of goats cheese and of fennel , onion and beetroot. The result was delicious.

My recipes are never overly exact on quantities and that is never more true than here. This was an exercise in using an autumn abundance from the garden. I grabbed and I cooked.

Ingredients

Tomato layer

• Large red tomatoes skinned in hot water and chopped
• Cherry tomatoes sliced , salted and peppered
• Small piece of horseradish sliced fine ( a teaspoon of crushed from a jar would surfice)
• A sping onion sliced
• 2 handfuls of basil torn
• A tablespoon of gelatin dissolved in hot water

Fennel and Beetroot layer

• 1 fennel bulb sliced plus some of the ends sliced
• 2 red onions diced
• 1 beetroot peeled and grated
• A handful of dill sliced
• Zucchini diced
• 4 cloves of garlic crushed
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• A tablespoon of gelatin dissolved in hot water

Goats Cheese layer

• Goats Cheese
• Pepper

And

• Bread, white death is best
• Olive oil

Tomato layer:

Combine tomato layer ingredients , check seasoning and set aside

Fennel Layer:

Heat a little olive oil in a pan

Lightly sauté onions, fennel, zucchini , garlic  

Once softened add beetroot 

After a further 5 minutes cooking add herbs, turn off heat and add gelatin solution

Set aside

Goats Cheese:

Mash goats cheese in a bowl, add pepper. Cheese should be salty enough.

Assemble:

Cut bread into triangles , dip in olive oil and then line a pudding basin or small mixing bowl with first clingwrap then the bread. Leave the clingwrap long enough to cover over the top at the end.

Once lined add a layer of tomato mixture, followed by the cheese

Then add the fennel mixture followed by the last of the tomato mixture.

Cover with olive oil dipped bread.

Pull up the excess clingwrap and wrap up the pudding.

Put a plate on top, place the basin in a bowl and put a weight ontop of the plate.

Place in the fridge for 2 hours.

Turn out onto a serving plate or board.

Cut and devour.