LETTUCE HEART WITH FLOWER PETALS
Recipe of Marc Meneau, Chef of L'Espérance in Saint-Père-sous-Vézelay, France
(extract from the book " Les salades, du potager à l'assiette " - Editions Minerva,
adapted by StarChefs)

Ingredients:

• 4 small blond lettuces
• 4 pansy flowers
• 6 nasturtium flowers
• 1 coffee spoon of parsley
• 1 coffee spoon of chervil
• 8 big stems of chive

Preparation:

Delicately clean each salad by opening the leaves without separating them. Strain upside down on a cloth. Remove the lettuce core as well as the first leaves.

Prepare the vinaigrette.

Place each lettuce on a plate, spray the vinaigrette on the leaves, decorate with the flower petals, parsley and chervil, and plant the chive stems in the lettuce heart.
Serve the left over vinaigrette in a sauce boat.

Vinaigrette:

• 6 tablespoons of peanut oil
• 2 tablespoons of walnut oil
• 3 tablespoons of old wine vinaigrette
• 2 pinches of salt
• 6 turns of white peppermill

Tip:

One can add grilled hazelnuts or almonds around the salad, but it is then necessary to replace the walnut oil with hazelnut or almond oil.