Smoked Carrots on Charcoal Pancakes
[Vegan]

To Prepare:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (200°C/400°F/Gas 6).

For the Carrots:

1. Line a small baking tin with high sides with one sheet of foil and one sheet of baking paper – both pieces should be large enough that they will be able to seal the whole way around the carrots without any gap.
2. Place one nori sheet on the baking paper, then cut the peeled carrots in half and lay them onto the nori, squeezing each one next to the other as tightly as possible. You should be able to make two layers of carrots, depending on your topping.
3. Sprinkle the carrots with the salt, paprika, star anise and seaweed and then top with the other nori sheet. Drench the carrots in olive oil, making sure they are totally submerged. We are cooking them ‘confit’, meaning cooking under oil, which gives them a gloriously soft texture.
4. Seal the paper and foil around the carrots, scrunching the foil to make a tight seal and being careful not to leave any holes for the oil to escape. Bake for 2 hours until the carrots are soft. You can check them by very carefully opening the parcel and piercing a knife the whole way through a carrot to check it is soft. Leave the carrots to cool. When they reach room temperature, pour the oil into a jar to use for dressings.
5. Place the cooked carrots on your chopping board, soft side down, and finely slice horizontally, making long thin slices. This simple and meditative way in which you carefully slice the carrots once they are cooked is the key to making them resemble smoked salmon.

For the Pancakes: 

1. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat with a little oil and ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make rounds the size of a coaster. Cook them for 1 minute on each side and continue until you have the number of pancakes you would like.
2. Top each pancake with some Cultured Cashew Cream, the smoked carrots, Rosemary Walnuts and leaves, dressing each pancake with a drizzle of the cooking oil and a squeeze of lemon.