The spice melange

My 'spice melange' recipe is a favourite of mine (Toot is not a fan). In my opinion its a bit like crack cocaine - a tad morish.

For lunch this Sunday, I treated myself to roasted 'hot smoked' salmon, drizzled with stilton cheese mustard and white wine sauce, sitting on a bed of the 'spice melange'. Absolutely delicious!

 The Spice Melange, commonly referred to simply as 'the spice', was a naturally produced awareness spectrum narcotic that formed a fundamental block of commerce and technological development in the known universe for millennia. It also played an important role in travel and cultural development.
Since its discovery several thousand years prior to the ascent of House Atreides it was produced exclusively on the planet Arrakis. This was because the conditions on Arrakis by which melange was created were unique to that planet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_%28novel%29

Ingredients for the 'spice melange':

One peeled shallot or red onion

Two peeled carrots

One medium sized peeled and diced sweet potato

Half a peeled and diced butternut squash

Two sticks of celery

Two field mushrooms

Four pieces of peeled garlic

Dessert spoon of chilli flakes

Two sprigs of fresh rosemary

One sprig of basil 

Half a teaspoon of smoked paprika 

Chunk of butter

Drizzle of olive oil

Black pepper and salt to taste

Method:

Put all  the veggies with the exception of the mushrooms, plus the herbs and spices in a small roasting tin. Drizzle with the olive oil. Cook for 40 minutes in a fan oven at 180 degrees C. From time to time baste the vegetables in the hot olive oil. Add the mushrooms to the roasting tin, put the butter on top of them and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes. Serve hot with roast meats or fish.