PREPARATION IN ADVANCE

Place one Half Cast Iron Grid in the Big Green Egg, ignite the charcoal and heat to a temperature of 180°C. Make sure that the charcoal is glowing nicely. Meanwhile, mix all the pesto ingredients, except the lemon juice, in a blender or food processor until you have a smooth pesto. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Cut half the leek into rings approximately ½ cm thick. Leave the other half intact. Peel the celeriac, the carrots, the sweet potato and one red onion. Cut the celeriac, the peeled red onion and the unpeeled butternut squash into slices approximately 1 cm thick. Cut 8 of the carrots and the sweet potato into slices approximately ½ cm thick. Cut the rest of the carrots in half lengthwise.

PREPARATION

Place the intact leek half, the unpeeled red onion and the pepper on the charcoal and leave them to roast, with the lid closed, until charred. Turn the vegetables occasionally. Meanwhile, brush the slices of butternut squash, celeriac and sweet potato with olive oil on both sides. Grill these vegetable slices, the other sliced vegetables (except the onion and the leek rings) and the halved carrots on the grid for approximately 6 minutes on each side, while the other vegetables are roasting.

Remove the roasted vegetables from the EGG and leave to cool slightly. Place the second Half Moon Cast Iron Grid in the EGG and place the Green Dutch Oven on the grid. Pour 1.5 litres of hot water into the pan and add the vegetable stock cubes. Close the lid of the EGG.

Remove the charred skin of the roasted vegetables and cut the onion and leek into rings. Cut the pepper into strips. Using 1 or 2 small round pastry cutters (Ø 2-3 cm), cut nice round circles from the slices of butternut squash, celeriac and sweet potato.

Stir the pan until the stock cubes have dissolved, add the bay leaves, the mace and the uncooked leek and onion rings and close the lid of the EGG. Bring the stock almost to the boil.

Add all roasted and grilled vegetables and leave to cook for several minutes.

Remove the pan of soup from the EGG. Slice the country bread and grill briefly on both sides on the grid.

Spoon the soup into the bowls and serve with the bread, the pesto and the olive oil.