Gluts
You can never have too much of a good thing’ is my mantra. There are times in the year when seasonal produce can become overwhelming. But – what a luxury! There are lots of ways to make the most of seasonal gluts, when a crop is plentiful and good value in the market or your veg patch is booming.
And if all else fails never underestimate the value of a large freezer!
I always look forward to early summer, when broad beans are piled high and cheap. Full of nutrition, they are one of the oldest cultivated crops in the world.
In Italy, France and Spain, immature finger-size broad beans are eaten whole, pods and all. If you are growing your own, have a try: top and tail the pods, slice in between the small beans, and simmer with crushed garlic and a little stock until soft. Dress the cooked pods with olive oil, lemon juice and finely chopped parsley.
When broad beans are young and tender, you can simply add a knob of butter. Or try some simple flavour combinations, such as combining blanched baby beans with olive oil, rocket leaves and crumbled feta. Or you can add blanched beans to risottos; or make a quick pasta sauce by sautéing onion, chilli and garlic in olive oil, and adding a good measure of double cream, a handful of parsley and some lightly cooked broad beans.
Later in the season, when the beans are larger and the skins thicker, they are best added to stews (see page 126) or puréed to make dips.
Podded broad beans freeze well. Just blanch the beans for 1 minute, before storing in bags in the freezer.
BROAD BEAN AND CUMIN PURÉE WITH CHICORY
A good recipe for larger, end-of-season beans. Serve warm as an appetiser, in the Italian way, topped with sautéed chicory and crusty bread dipped in olive oil, or allow to cool and eat hummus style with toasted pitta.
450g/1lb podded broad beans (about 1.35kg/3lb whole beans)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds 3 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, sliced 6 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 flat teaspoon ground cumin 1 flat teaspoon sweet paprika
a handful of mint leaves, chopped salt and black pepper
2 heads of chicory, sliced olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
a large handful of chard leaves, sliced
To serve
extra olive oil and cumin seeds
Place the beans in a saucepan along with the cumin seeds, bay leaves and sliced garlic. Add enough water to just cover the beans. Simmer until soft, then drain through a fine sieve, reserving the cooking liquid.
Discard the bay leaves and transfer the sieved ingredients to a food processor. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, paprika and 3 tablespoons of reserved liquid and blend until a rough purée forms. Stir in the chopped mint and season to taste.
Heat a splash of olive oil in a wok or large frying pan, add the crushed garlic and stir-fry until soft. Throw in the sliced chicory and chard leaves and quickly stir-fry until wilted.
Scoop the warm purée on to a flat serving dish or plate, level and drizzle with extra olive oil. Pile the chicory mixture on top and sprinkle with cumin seeds to taste.
BROAD BEANS BAKED WITH ASPARAGUS
Tender new-season beans are essential for this recipe. Serve with buttered new potatoes sprinkled with chopped fresh mint.
500g/1lb 2oz podded broad beans (approx 1.5kg/3lb 5oz whole broad beans)
225g/8oz fine asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
125g/41/2oz sliced pancetta
6 sliced spring onions
6 large free-range eggs
75ml/1/4 cup thick double cream
75ml/1/4 cup whole milk
75g/1 cup finely grated pecorino or
Parmesan cheese a handful of chopped marjoram leaves
a handful of chopped chives salt and black pepper butter
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
Cook the broad beans in seasoned boiling water for a few minutes, drain, refresh with cold water and set to one side.
Wash the asparagus and remove the tough ends by bending each stalk until it reaches the position where it naturally wants to snap.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic and pancetta and sauté until the garlic is golden and the pancetta is beginning to crisp. Add the spring onions and turn in the oil until they start to wilt. Remove the pan from the heat.
Whisk the eggs, cream and milk together in a bowl. Stir in the grated cheese, chopped marjoram and chives and seasoning to taste. Add the fried pancetta mixture and the blanched broad beans.
Butter a round shallow baking dish, deep enough for the mixture to fit snugly inside (approx 30cm/12 inches). Pour in the mixture, making sure the beans and pancetta are evenly distributed, and carefully lay the asparagus nose to tail on top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until just set and golden brown – it should still have a bit of a wobble when gently shaken.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting (if you try any earlier you run the risk of collapse).
Thankfully, the days of uniform pale red tomatoes with barely any flavour dominating the market are coming to an end. Ruby red, yellow, orange, green, cherry, plum, beef and grape tomatoes are now making their presence felt: beautiful heritage varieties each with its own unique flavour, texture and shape.
Choose sweet cherry or grape tomatoes for salads or roasting; plum tomatoes are perfect for rich tomato sauces and thickly sliced beef tomatoes just seem to have been made to accompany soft, creamy mozzarella cheese.
A tomato should smell like a tomato: the more intense the scent the more intense the flavour. Proudly choose tomatoes that are irregular in shape – if they are a little green in part, they will soon ripen once home. Tomatoes are best stored out of the fridge and served when fully ripe and succulent.
Tomatoes are so versatile, it is quite easy to eat them every day without getting bored. There are so many simple combinations that hardly warrant a recipe. Serve chunks of multicoloured varieties coated with olive oil and sprinkled with crushed sea salt and black pepper; maybe add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and Parmesan one day or fresh herbs another – I would choose from basil, oregano, marjoram or thyme. Layer thick slices of tomatoes, avocado and mozzarella and top with torn basil and seasoned olive oil. Mix cubed tomatoes with cucumber, fresh mint and parsley leaves and crumble salty feta cheese over the top. Dowse whole cherry tomatoes with olive oil and chopped garlic and bake in a hot oven until their juices release or pop inside a halved pepper, spoon wild garlic pesto over the top and bake in a hot oven until soft. Whizz tomatoes in a blender with crushed garlic, sliced spring onions, a good measure of olive oil, a splash of port, a dash of Worcester sauce and lots of fresh basil and chill in the fridge for a cooling soup on a hot summer’s day. Or sweat tomatoes with diced onion and garlic, simmer with seasoned stock and blend with marjoram leaves for a warming soup when the weather is less clement. Sweet and intense semi-dried sun-blushed tomatoes can be stored for months simply covered with olive oil. Halve tomatoes, season and slow roast, on the lowest heat setting of the oven, for 3 hours until semi-dried. Transfer to a jar, pour over some olive oil and seal. They can be tossed later with salads or pasta, or baked in tarts and bread.
Passata, a rich sieved tomato sauce that can be stored bottled or frozen for months, is indispensable in the store cupboard. Passata adds the intense flavour of tomatoes without the texture, and is excellent in sauces, curries, soups and casseroles. You will need plastic tubs with fitted lids if freezing the passata or jars with a tightly sealing lid and a trivet (or an old tea towel) if bottling. If you are using the passata immediately, why not add a handful of herbs to the tomato mixture? If you’re storing it for longer, add the herbs just before use.
MAKES ABOUT 725 ML/3 CUPS
1kg/2 1/4lb very ripe tomatoes
optional: a handful of basil, oregano or marjoram
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed salt and black pepper
Quarter the tomatoes and liquidize in a food processor, if you are adding herbs, blend with the tomatoes at this point.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the diced onions and garlic and sauté until soft but not brown.
Add the liquidized tomatoes, cover the pan and gently simmer for 30 minutes, removing the lid for the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Stir regularly to prevent sticking. Season to taste.
Leave the passata until it is cool enough to sieve through a mouli or push through a sieve with the help of the back of a wooden spoon.
Freeze the passata in portions in individual plastic tubs for easy use.
To bottle the passata: first fill and seal sterilized jars. To prevent spoilage the jars must be simmered in boiling water. The jars must not touch the bottom of the pan or they will break: put a trivet (or an old tea towel folded to size) in the bottom of the pan; place the jars on top, add enough boiling water to reach their necks, and simmer for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the jars from the water and allow to cool. Store in a dark, cool place.
EGGS BAKED IN PASSATA, PEPPER AND CHORIZO SAUCE
SERVES 6
3 tablespoons olive oil
175g/6oz chorizo sausage, cubed
1 medium red onion, diced
1 large red pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon pimentón (smoked paprika)
1 scant teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons dry sherry or white wine
200ml/1 scant cup passata
a handful of chopped coriander
salt and black pepper
butter
6 medium free-range eggs
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed frying pan, add the chorizo, onion, pepper and garlic and sauté until caramelized.
Stir in the pimentón and cinnamon and cook for a minute or so. Pour in the sherry and simmer until it has reduced by half. Add the passata and simmer over a low heat, until the sauce is thick and rich. Stir in the coriander and season to taste.
Make 6 even indents in the sauce (big enough for an egg to sit snugly inside), add a small knob of butter and break an egg into each indent. Cover the pan and gently simmer until the egg white is cooked through and the yolk is still runny.
You can’t beat this sweet but savoury jam for flavour. Serve with cheese, sausages, burgers, chicken – whatever you fancy. And if you prefer things hot add extra chilli. If you want to make a sweet jam, simply leave out the garlic, chilli, balsamic vinegar and salt.
MAKES 2 X 450G/1LB JARS
900g/2lb ripe tomatoes, diced
6 large red chillies, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
450g/2 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Place all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed pan and stir together over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Bring the pan to the boil, reduce the heat and briskly simmer for 30 minutes or so, until the jam has reduced and reached setting point (see page 9).
Ladle into sterilized jars, cover with a waxed jam disc and seal with a tight-fitting lid. Store in a cool, dark place.
Who could possibly complain about having too many strawberries? They are the essence of summer.
Ideally, strawberries should only be eaten in season and locally grown. When strawberries are ripe and ready to eat, they should have a sweet heady scent, ruby red colour and no white or green shoulders. When buying strawberries always check for soft blemishes, mildew or crushed fruit in the bottom of the punnet. And remember strawberries have a fuller flavour when served at room temperature.
Take advantage of pick your own farms and market stalls offering bargain prices during the season.
For a yummy summer ice cream, purée a generous punnet of strawberries with a little caster sugar and stir in 600ml/2 1/2 cups of lightly whipped double cream. Place in the freezer and stir every hour or so until frozen through (this can take up to 6 hours).
And strawberry jam couldn’t be simpler: combine 450g/1lb quartered ripe strawberries, 400g/2 cups sugar and the juice of a large lemon over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and simmer briskly until setting point is reached. To ensure even fruit distribution, allow the jam to cool a little before ladling into sterilized jars.
Dressing strawberries with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar makes a sophisticated sweet-savoury taste combination.
Best of all, sip champagne with a strawberry dropped in the bottom of the glass!
STRAWBERRY, RHUBARB AND SPINACH SALAD
Sweet strawberries, crisp raw rhubarb, baby spinach and watercress leaves tossed with balsamic dressing and topped with pine nuts and Parmesan shavings.
1 punnet of strawberries (roughly 450g/1lb)
2 prepared rhubarb stems
a couple of handfuls of young leaf spinach
a couple of handfuls of watercress
a handful of toasted pine nuts Parmesan shavings
Dressing
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon clear honey
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
salt and black pepper
Hull the strawberries and cut into quarters. Thinly slice the prepared rhubarb.
Mix the spinach and watercress together in a bowl and scatter with the rhubarb and strawberries.
Whisk the dressing ingredients together, season to taste and drizzle evenly over the salad.
Sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts and Parmesan shavings.
There are many stories about how this legendary British pudding was created. My favourite is the tale of how a friendly Labrador dog accidentally sat on a strawberry pavlova at Eton’s annual school picnic and made a bit of a ‘mess’. One thing for sure is that we have Eton College to thank for the inspired combination of crushed meringues, soft whipped cream and ripe strawberries. A splash of port added to the crushed strawberries makes a boozy alternative. By all means make your own meringues, but there are many good shop-bought alternatives available.
500g/1lb 2oz ripe strawberries, hulled
a splash of port (optional)
600ml/2 1/2 cups double cream
a few drops of vanilla extract
about 6 large meringues
Reserve 6 strawberries to decorate the pudding.
Place half the strawberries in a bowl (with a splash of port, if you like) and crush with a fork until roughly mashed. Quarter the remaining strawberries. Whisk the cream with a few drops of vanilla extract until floppy peaks form. Place the meringues in a plastic bag and lightly crush with a rolling pin until broken into chunks (you don’t want the meringue pieces to be too small or they will completely dissolve in the cream).
Just before serving, roughly fold the crushed and quartered strawberries, cream and meringue chunks together until a marbled effect forms.
Spoon into glasses and decorate with strawberry quarters. Serve immediately.
In midsummer there are always bundles of runner beans by the allotment gate, free for passers-by to take home. The runner bean plant literally runs away with itself and at up to 2 metres/6 feet tall it is destined to be the king of gluts. The more the merrier: at their best runner beans are tender, full of flavour and brimming with protein.
Biggest isn’t always best: runner beans become stringy when allowed to grow too long. Choose medium-sized beans that are firm and snap easily. String the beans by peeling each side with a vegetable peeler and thinly slice on a diagonal. Any prepared beans can also be blanched and frozen.
Nothing beats a pile of beans covered in gravy, but how about making a warm salad? Mix sliced blanched beans with halved cherry tomatoes, chopped basil, toasted pine nuts and a simple vinaigrette. For an easy side dish, simmer thinly cut beans in garlic butter with a dash of double cream or toss with pesto and grated Parmesan cheese. However you choose to enjoy them, remember they only need a short cooking time.
French beans can replace runner beans in all of these recipes.
Runner beans cooked with aromatic spices make an unusual side dish to serve with grilled meat or rice dishes.
500g/1lb 2oz runner beans or French beans
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon clear honey
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
a pinch of chilli flakes
3 medium tomatoes, diced
salt and black pepper
Top and tail the beans, string and slice thinly diagonally. Blanch the prepared beans in a pan of boiling water for a couple of minutes, drain and refresh with cold water.
Mix the 4 ground spices together and combine with the clear honey and enough water to make a thinnish paste.
Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed saucepan. Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and chilli flakes. When the seeds pop add the honey spice mix and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the blanched beans, season to taste and simmer on a low heat for a further 5 minutes.
RUNNER BEANS WITH NEW POTATOES, PESTO AND SPAGHETTI
Potatoes and pasta might seem an odd combination, but trust me it works. Traditionally the same water is used to cook all the ingredients. Wild garlic pesto (page 13) works well in this recipe; alternatively, you can use a good-quality shop-bought basil pesto. Feel free to play around with the recipe, I sometimes add broad beans or peas and reduce the amount of runner beans.
350g/12oz runner or French beans
5 smallish waxy new potatoes (about 275g/10oz), such as Jersey Royals or salad potatoes
300g/11oz spaghetti
5 heaped tablespoons pesto
a handful of sliced black olives
salt and black pepper
olive oil
grated Parmesan cheese
Top and tail the beans, string and thinly slice diagonally. Peel and dice the new potatoes.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the sliced beans and cook for a few minutes until just soft. Remove the beans with a slotted spoon and set to one side.
Bring the water back to the boil, add the potatoes and simmer until soft, but not breaking down. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and add to the cooked beans.
Bring the water back to the boil again, add the spaghetti and boil until al dente (cooked but not soft). Drain the pasta, reserving 110ml/1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.
Return the reserved drained water to the pan, and add the pesto, sliced olives and seasoning to taste. When the sauce starts to simmer add the cooked spaghetti, potato and beans. Gently stir together until well combined and piping hot.
Serve drizzled with extra olive oil and a generous serving of grated Parmesan cheese.
At the height of summer plump courgettes are abundant. Thanks to farmers’ markets, along with conventional dark green varieties, eye-catching yellow, pale green and stripped courgettes are also available. If you are thinking of growing your own, even one modest plant produces a decent quantity of fruit.
Choose small to medium-sized courgettes. Their tender skin and flesh is just as good eaten raw as it is lightly cooked. Simple is often best: slice the courgettes thinly lengthwise, brush with seasoned olive oil, chargrill and garnish with chopped mint leaves; or slice thickly and quick-fry with crushed new season’s garlic; or just grate and sauté with butter. Ribbons of raw courgette, peeled with the aid of a vegetable peeler, make an attractive addition to any salad.
Courgette flowers are a brief seasonal treat. Tear the flowers into small pieces and add to any courgette recipe. Stuff whole courgette flowers with a spoonful of ricotta or soft goat’s cheese combined with chopped basil leaves (see the filling for courgette rolls on page 95), pinch the flower together and flash-fry in olive oil until golden.
COURGETTE, RICOTTA AND BASIL ROLLS
Freshly picked courgettes served raw, thinly sliced and rolled with Parma ham and herby ricotta cheese make tasty and unusual finger food. If any of the courgettes still have their flowers attached, even better. Carefully wash the flower, tear it into pieces and add to the ricotta mixture. Choose yellow courgettes for this recipe if you can: they look very pretty and have a subtler flavour. The ricotta mixture can also be used to stuff courgette flowers.
3 medium courgettes
225g/8 oz ricotta
1 large red chilli, finely chopped
grated zest of half a lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
a small handful of basil leaves, finely chopped
courgette flowers, washed and torn into small pieces
salt and black pepper
110g/4oz thinly cut Parma or Serrano ham
Trim the courgettes and thinly slice lengthwise using a vegetable peeler. Discard any outer slices that are mainly skin. Lay the courgettes on a large flat dish and season with a little salt and black pepper.
Combine the ricotta with the chopped chilli, lemon zest, olive oil, chopped basil and courgette flowers. Season to taste.
Cut the ham into slightly thinner strips than the courgette slices.
Lay a strip of ham on top of each courgette slice and spoon a little of the ricotta mixture on to one end. Tightly roll the courgette around the filling. Repeat the process until all the ingredients have been used up. Chill until ready to serve.
When you simply cannot face another meal with courgettes, how about a courgette cake? Far more interesting than carrot cake and a handy way to use up larger courgettes. I like to use wholemeal spelt flour, but you can substitute regular wholemeal flour if you prefer.
225g/8oz courgettes
2 bananas
110ml/1/2 cup sunflower oil
3 medium free-range eggs
100g/1/2 cup Demerara (raw) sugar
225g/1 1/2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
25g/1/3 cup desiccated coconut
75g/1/2 cup raisins
sunflower seeds, to sprinkle on top
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
Medium-grate the courgettes and squeeze any excess water away with your (clean) hands.
Peel the bananas and mash with a fork until broken down.
Beat the oil, eggs and sugar together until creamy. Fold in the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom.
Carefully stir in the grated courgette, mashed banana, coconut and raisins.
Turn out into a lined loaf tin and cover the surface of the cake mixture with sunflower seeds.
Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for about an hour. The cake should spring back when lightly pressed in the middle. If it doesn’t, cook for a little longer and test again.
There is a point in the year when winter seems endless, spring, with its tantalizing colourful crops, seems a very long way away, and root vegetables seem to fill the shelves. But never fear, there is more to these faithful winter staples than meets the eye.
Combine potato and parsnip to create pillowy soft homemade gnocchi. Layer thinly sliced mixed root vegetables of your choice with finely chopped garlic and thyme and bake with cream to create a contemporary twist on a classic dauphinoise (follow the recipe on page 16 as a guide). Add matchsticks of raw baby turnip to coleslaw, or thinly slice the turnip and dress with olive oil, a good squeeze of lemon juice and finely chopped parsley to make a crisp winter side salad. Mash equal quantities of cooked swede and parsnip with mustard, cream and butter and serve with plump herby sausages and caramelized onions. A Sunday roast is incomplete without roast potatoes, but mixed roots tossed with honey and rosemary make a wonderful addition.
Once you’ve tasted homemade gnocchi, there’s no going back to ready-made. And the little dumplings are so quick to make, there’s no excuse not to have a try. Top with your favourite pasta sauce. The amount of flour required varies a little, depending on the type of potatoes used. Start with the suggested amount and add extra if necessary.
450g/1lb parsnips
450g/1lb mashing potatoes
200g/1 1/3 cups buckwheat or plain flour, plus extra to roll
2 medium free-range egg yolks, beaten
a handful of sage leaves, finely chopped
salt and black pepper
Peel the parsnips and potatoes, cut into largish chunks and cook in simmering salted water until just soft. Drain the vegetables, return to the pan and steam dry over a low heat for a few minutes. Remove from the heat and mash together until smooth. Set to one side and allow to cool.
Combine the mash with the flour, egg yolk, sage and seasoning to taste. Coat the mixture with flour and knead for a few minutes until a dough forms.
Pull away a handful of dough, roll into a thinnish sausage shape on a floured board and cut into 2.5 cm/1 inch bite-size pieces. Repeat until all the dough has been used up.
Drop the prepared gnocchi into a pan of rapidly boiling salted water. The gnocchi are ready when they have all risen to the surface of the water.
ROSEMARY AND HONEY ROASTED ROOTS
Caramelized on the outside, sweet and soft on the inside. Serve with herbed couscous, thick slices of ham or a Sunday roast. You can use any combination of root vegetables – try adding beetroot and Jerusalem artichoke as a seasonal variation.
1/2 medium swede, peeled and cut into chunks
2 small turnips, peeled and cut into chunks
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
3 carrots, peeled and quartered lengthwise
1/2 medium celeriac, peeled and cut into chunks
2 medium red onions, peeled and cut into eighths
1 small head of garlic, broken into cloves and left in their skins
1 generous tablespoon clear honey
olive oil
butter
a small bunch of rosemary, leaves removed from stalks
salt and black pepper
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
Line a large roasting pan with the prepared vegetables. Drizzle with a good amount of olive oil (enough to coat the roots without leaving them swimming in a pool of oil). Add the honey and massage the vegetables with your clean hands until they are well coated with the oil and honey.
Dot with a little butter, scatter the rosemary leaves over the top and season to taste.
Bake in a preheated oven, turning the vegetables a couple of times, for 55 minutes or so, until they are caramelized and golden brown.
