Pot-roasted vegetables and fruits Provençales

Serves 4

It seemed a perfect vegetarian dish, until I noticed lardons fumés at the end of the description. Don't worry, I've left the meat out, because although there wasn't much of it, I'm on a purely veggie mission this week. You can vary the contents according to what's in season and what takes your fancy. Small potatoes such as Anya or Charlotte could be included to add a bit of carbohydrate.

12 button onions, peeled
4 large cloves of garlic with the skin left on
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm-thick slices on the angle, or 12 small carrots such as Chantenay, trimmed and peeled
150g small ceps, or other wild mushrooms
4 Jerusalem artichokes, peeled
4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
A few sprigs of rosemary
A few sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
4 dried figs, soaked in water overnight
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pears, quartered and the core cut out

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5. Heat an oven-proof dish that you can serve from, on a low flame with the olive oil. Add the vegetables and mushrooms, season and stir on a low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and figs, put on the lid and cook for 30 minutes in the oven, stirring a couple times during cooking. Stir in the pears and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes. Serve immediately with fresh bread and a green salad.