Aged Comté mousse with British kohlrabi, walnut pesto and pear salad

Begin by making the candied walnuts. Place the walnuts into a heatproof bowl

Bring the sugar, water and star anise to the boil in a heavy saucepan. Simmer for 3–4 minutes then pour the syrup over the walnuts

Let cool at room temperature until lukewarm then chill in the fridge overnight

For the dill oil, blend the dill with the vegetable oil and salt in a Thermomix at 62°C, or else in a regular blender until thoroughly blended

Strain through a triple later of muslin, hanging in the fridge overnight

The next day, preheat the oven to 170°C fan

Drain the walnuts from the syrup and place them onto a lined baking tray. Cook for 8–12 minutes until deep golden brown

Set aside to cool at room temperature while you prepare the other components

Whisk together the rapeseed oil, vinegar, salt and sugar until emulsified

Pour the vinaigrette over the kohlrabi and compress in a vac pac machine or simply cover tightly. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours

Finely grate the aged Comté, then place it into a pan with the whipping cream

Bring the cream up to 85°C, stirring to melt the cheese

Bloom your gelatine in water. Once it's soft, remove it and squeeze out any excess water

Add the gelatine to the Comté and cream mixture and whisk until smooth. Season with salt

Pass the cream through a fine sieve and set in the fridge for at least 2 hours

Once set, beat the mix with a spatula until light and creamy. Transfer to a piping bag and set aside until needed

While the cream cools, preheat the oven to 170°C fan

Place the walnuts for the pesto onto a baking tray. Season with the sea salt and mix with half the walnut oil

Bake at 170°C for 10–12 minutes until deep golden brown, then remove from the oven

Coarsely chop a quarter of the walnuts by hand. Set aside

Pulse the remaining walnuts in a food processor while slowing adding the second half of the walnut oil 

Combine the hand-chopped walnuts and walnut oil mixture together and set aside until needed

Whisk together all the dressing ingredients together with 100ml dill oil and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper

Use a mandolin to thinly slice the pear and raw kohlrabi. Adam chooses to then cut the slices out into little stars as seen in the image above, but you can cut them into rounds if it's easier

Cut the pickled kohlrabi into rounds or stars

Pipe the Comté mousse onto a plate and create a well on top. Fill the well with the walnut pesto and top with the rounds of Comté

Arrange the raw kohlrabi, pickled kohlrabi and pear over the mousse. It should be completely covered

Place some nuggets of candied walnuts over the top and garnish with leaves and herbs of your choice

Finish with the dressing and serve with some crusty bread