Stuffed Spring Vegetables

To prepare the concasse: Heat the olive oil in a saute pan or skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the tomatoes, garlic, bouquet garni, and olives and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down into a paste and nearly all the liquid has evaporated. Remove the bouquet garni. Mash the concasse with the back of a spoon to create a paste. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside. The paste can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

To prepare the tapenade: Put the olives, anchovies, garlic, capers, and basil in a food processor and pulse twice. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil with the machine running. Leave a little texture. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Set aside.

To prepare the jelly: Combine the tomato, thyme, and garlic in a small pan and crush together a little with the back of a spoon. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Line a china cap or strainer with two layers of cheesecloth and place over a bowl. Pour the tomato mixture through the cheesecloth, pressing down with the back of a spoon to extract the juice. Allow the juice to drip through for at least 1 hour. Press with the back of a spoon again to extract the juice; lift the cheesecloth, twist, and squeeze to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the solids. Dissolve the gelatin in the water, then stir into the extracted tomato juice. Pour into a small pan or bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until jelled. The jelly will be pale rose in color and translucent.

To prepare the gazpacho: Chop the vegetables together in a food processor with the olive oil and celery salt, leaving a little texture. Adjust the thickness with tomato juice (to thin) or breadcrumbs (to thicken); it should be thick enough to hold its shape. Cover and chill 3 hours. Taste; adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add hot pepper to taste. Set aside in the refrigerator.

To prepare the baby vegetables: The baby vegetables are used as containers. Cut the off the tops of the tomatoes about one-fourth of the way down and hollow out the tomatoes, preserving the skin and shape. Set the tops and hollowed tomatoes aside.

Trim the roots from the onions, creating a small flat spot as a base. Cut off the tops of the onions one fourth of the way down. Stick a toothpick through the cut bottom of the lids, coming out the side, to hold the onion layers together. Using a melon baller, hollow out the onions. Push a toothpick up through the bodies of the onions to hold them together. Trim the bottom of each zucchini to create a small flat base. Cut off the tops of the zucchini one-fourth of the way down and hollow out the zucchini with a melon baller. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Slip the onion bodies and lids into the water. Return to a boil and cook 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Set aside on paper towels to drain and cool. Slip the zucchini bodies and tops into the water, return to a boil, and cook 1 minute. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Set aside on paper towels to drain and cool.

Put the lemon juice in a small bowl. Pull the coarse lower leaves off an artichoke. Cut across the artichoke just above the choke, leaving the stem and base. Scrape out the hairy choke and hollow out the base slightly. Trim off the end of the stem. Pare the stem and base. Dip/brush the artichoke all over with lemon juice as soon as it is prepared. Repeat to prepare all the artichokes. Bring the chicken stock to a boil over medium-high heat and slip the artichokes into the stock. Cook 4 to 6 minutes, until the tip of a knife can just pierce the artichoke bases. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside to cool.

Chill all the vegetables in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

To prepare the stuffing: Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a saute pan or skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onions and three-fourths of the minced garlic. Cook about one hour, until the onions and garlic have lost their shape and are browned and thickened. Cut the skin from the zucchini in long, 1/4-inch-thick strips; discard the seed portion or set aside for another use. Cut the zucchini strips in 1/4-inch pieces. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large saute pan or skillet over medium heat and saute the zucchini with the remaining minced garlic and the herbs until the zucchini is softened but not browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain well and chill. Chop fine and mix with the caramelized onions. Add the tomato concasse, the ham, and the basil. Mix well; adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble: Fill the chilled, hollowed baby zucchini and baby onions with zucchini-ham mixture. Put the lids in place and set aside. Fill the zucchini flowers with the same mixture and tuck in the petals around the stuffing; set aside. Fill/spread the hollowed bases of the artichokes with tapenade; set aside. Fill the tomatoes with some of the gazpacho and place the lids on top.

To serve: Toss the frisee with the olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle one half of each plate with a little of the gazpacho. Sprinkle with basil chiffonade. Place 1 of each type of stuffed vegetable on the drizzled sauce on each dish. Arrange seasoned frisee on the other side of each dish. Place a spoonful of tomato jelly beside the greens. Garnish the vegetables with sprigs of chervil, basil, and whole chives. Drizzle with olive oil or argan oil.