Antonio Carluccio’s rustic potato cake

He's written 24 cook books on the subject of Italian food and his latest champions the humble vegetable. Antonio Carluccio is back in the This Morning kitchen and here to persuade us all to eat more fruit and vegetables with an easy idea to sneak more veg into tonight’s dinner.

Antonio is in the kitchen cooking up rustic potatoes, with ham and vegetable cake.

Recipe taken from Vegetables by Antonio Carluccio

Ingredients

1kg (2lb / 4 oz) floury potatoes 55g (2 oz) cooked ham, cut into cubes25g (1 oz) buffalo mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes150g (5 ½ oz) Provola cheese (smoked mozzarella), cut into small cubes55g (2 oz) Parmesan, freshly grated4 medium eggs, beaten2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley200g (7oz) blanched mixed vegetables eg. Broccoli, beans, carrots, pumpkina knob unsalted butter4 tablespoons dried white breadcrumbs4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oilsalt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180c (350f/gas 4)

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, then drain and peel them. Pass them through a potato ricer (or sieve) to make a puree. Mix the potato puree with the ham, mozzarella, Provola, Parmesan, beaten eggs, parsley and cooked vegetables and season with some salt and pepper.

• Use the butter to grease a round cake tin 25cm (10 inches) in diameter, and dust with some of the breadcrumbs. Spoon the potato mixture into this, and press gently with a fork to give some shape. Sprinkle with the remaining breadcrumbs, then trickle over the olive oil.

• Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, until browned on top. Serve in slices. The cake is very good warm, but also excellent served cold.