Wild Garlic Pesto

Lamb and barley soup with wild garlic pesto

Wild garlic is a fine harbinger of spring and definitely an unmistakable find if you're wandering happy and aimless in the woods in celebration - or relief - that winter is gone for another year. It loves damp shade - so an ideal plant - and pushes through ground cover and creates a sort of cloud of garlic perfume. Quite a surprise on a first encounter! The leaves grow to a foot or more and the flowers are quintessential spring - pretty bright white stars shine amidst the dark, they are a great garnish on a salad.

I got a big bunch in the veg bag last week and I really fancied trying my hand at pesto. I have a friend who is very enthusiastic about food, loves eating great stuff though it must be said is not the world's finest cook. The one thing she does make better than anyone else I know is pesto - she finds a perfect balance of basil, nuts and cheese and serves it generously on hot pasta. Love it. Her mastery means I have never actually made pesto in any form - it's so great, why would I? But she left London a while ago and I've not eaten pesto since. A vague hankering was beginning to niggle.

I had a few pine nuts and a few more walnuts and a fine hunk of Parmesan and that seemed as good a start as any. I lightly toasted the nuts but I think you could use all walnuts and skip that step entirely. It is a very easy thing to make - chuck it all in the blender and whizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Add oil. This makes quite a decent quantity, too much for us to eat in one sitting, but it keeps very well in the fridge for a couple of weeks so long as the top is covered with a thin layer of oil.

Wild Garlic Pesto

If you don't have the time/inclination to forage wild garlic is sold at lots of farmers markets and the occasional fruit and vegetable shop at this time of year

Large bunch wild garlic
20g pine nuts, lightly toasted
30g walnuts, lightly crushed and toasted
50g finely grated Parmesan
100ml olive oil

Wash the wild garlic and rip the leaves into smaller pieces and put into a blender jug. Whizz to make a paste. Add the nuts and cheese and whizz again to combine. Season with salt and pepper, add about half the olive oil and whizz once more. Keep adding the oil and whizzing till you have the consistency you want. Tip the finished pesto into an airtight jar or tub, cover with a thin film of olive oil and refrigerate.

I loved having this in the fridge for a week - I used it first to dollop into a rich lamb and barley broth, then a few days later into a less successful vegetable soup. I loved it best however on Sunday night mixed into hot spaghetti with extra Parmesan grated on top. Brilliant supper ready in ten.

Laksa with Tofu Puffs

Seems an age since I had any tofu. Set my heart on laksa, thinking I would marinate and fry some cubes of silken tofu for a topping then, once I got to Wing Yip I couldn't resist a bag of tofu puffs - those big yellowy chunks of deep fried tofu that look solid and ugly and in fact are textured like donuts but vastly lighter and utterly brilliant at absorbing liquid. Perfect! I fudged the spice paste with stuff I already had and ended up with a seriously good meal. The only trick is to fry the spice paste till it darkens and smells divine - it takes about 20 minutes, stirring often, till all the liquid evaporates and you are left with a rich fragrant base.

Laksa with Tofu Puffs

I have used herbs to garnish but you can add slivers of cucumber, fresh bean sprouts, halved boiled eggs and deep fried shallots - any of them will add something good to the finished bowl
Serves 3

For the spice paste
4 large dried chillies, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 knob of ginger - thumb sized, of course - peeled and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons raw cashew nuts
1/2 teaspoon belachan - dried shrimp paste if you can get some

For the laksa
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
400ml can coconut milk
2 tablespoons fish sauce
100g rice vermicelli thread noodles - thin like angel hair
10 deep fried tofu puffs, cut in half
100g green beans, topped and tailed and cut into short lengths
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 tablespoons chopped thai basil
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

Roughly chop the soaked chillies and put them into a blender with the rest of the spice paste ingredients. Add some of the soaking water and blend to a thick paste.

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the spice paste. Cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, till most of the liquid evaporates and you have a rich dark fragrant paste. Add the ground turmeric and coriander and stir for another minute. Add the chicken stock and coconut milk and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and gently simmer the broth for 20-30 minutes. Add the fish sauce and check the seasoning - add a little salt if necessary.

Stir in the vermicelli and simmer for a few minutes then add the halved tofu and stir, then the green beans. Cook for a couple more minutes till the beans are just tender then stir in the lime juice to sharpen the flavours. Serve in large bowls garnished with the chopped herbs.

Leek & Potato Soup

The mission of late has been clearing the freezer, which is harder than it should be. I am a great one for putting something in without having an actual plan for taking it out again and so most things never again see the light of day. I confess my starting point every week for menu plan is definitely more oooh, I know what I fancy  and I go from there, seldom thinking hmm, I have x or y so I shall make this or that and it will be lovely. I don't lack the skill so much as the inclination.

I've done okay with it, using some of the big and obvious things and then found a couple of chicken carcasses that I froze for stock which never happened.  So I dragged them all out, tossed them in a pot with the usual aromatic suspects and simmered me up a fine pot of flavoured broth. Thoroughly brilliant to this point, I feel. Trouble is I had no immediate use for three and a half litres of chicken stock Decanted to clean milk cartons it simply used more space than the original bones. Hmmm.

Ooooh, I thought, winter cries out for soup and good soup needs good stock so I shall simply perform a little alchemy and make me some soup. Even had some (frozen) cream that needed using. I quite fancied something simple and soothing, using winter veg. I toyed with the idea of broccoli but went off it before I got any further and regretfully rejected cauliflower because I'd had a couple of cauliflower things recently. Had almost decided on curried parsnip when I read about leeks and their lush versatility. Decided on leek and potato soup, something I've not made for years.

Step one, I confess, was putting a couple of litres of stock in the freezer, but with luck it will be risotto or similar within the month. Step two was to take myself off to Brixton Market for some lovely fat leeks and a few potatoes. When I've made it previously I always stir chopped veg through a little melted butter then add stock and simmer for an hour or so till everything is softly approaching mush then blend it till smoothish and add cream or cheese. I like it for its almost generic gentleness but I must confess I'd be hard pressed, if blindfolded, to identify the actual soup. Which is a shame given leeks ability to add a complexity of flavour to the soothing blanket that is pureed potato. Thinking it through I decided it was probably the lengthy simmer that was doing me no favours.

I started at the same point as always, melting butter and coating roughly chopped potato and leek but, instead of adding the stock and leaving it I turned the heat low and covered the veg with a circle of greaseproof paper before putting on the lid. The vegetables steamed gently for about 15 minutes till they'd softened but, crucially, still retained all their lovely flavour. Once the stock was added and simmering it was only five minutes or so to finish the cooking. Quick blitz, stirred in the cream and soup was done, a gorgeous textured liquid tasting wonderfully of leeks. Not just faster, better!

Leek & Potato Soup

I confess this makes a lot of soup, but it freezes well! And indeed that's where some of mine ended up...

50g butter
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
7 or 8 large leeks - about 2cm in diameter - washed and cut into 1 cm rings, both white and green
1kg floury potatoes, washed but no need to peel, diced into 1cm cubes
1.5 litres of chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
About a quarter of a nutmeg, finely grated
250ml cream
1 egg per serving - optional

Melt the butter in a large pan and add the garlic, leeks and potato. Stir to coat well then cover the vegetables with a circle of greaseproof paper then put the lid on the pan and turn the heat to very low.  Leave the vegetables to simmer for about 15 minutes until just tender. Discard the paper and add the stock, increasing the heat to medium. When it comes to the boil, season and then turn the heat down and simmer for five minutes. Take the soup off the heat and puree either with an immersion stick or blender till smooth. Add the grated nutmeg and cream and stir through till well combined.

At the Canton the other night I noticed they had leek and potato soup on the menu, with a poached duck egg added. Could not resist trying that. The yolk added a golden richness to the soup, quite a delight on a cold winter night.

Potato, Pea & Watercress Soup

This post is mostly for Judith, a woman I've known for ages. We met via email through Food Chain, she is a quite inspired rota co-ordinator, and she eased me into volunteering across a couple of south London kitchens. One of her defining characteristics is that she is a very seriously north London person. She is instantly lost upon crossing the Thames, yet take her back over the river and she is mistress of all she surveys. She liked a recipe a while ago that required Nigella seeds - her inablility to come south to Tooting to buy her own had me sending them to her by post. Talk about geographical determination! We did meet once in, whisper it, south London but someone else was driving I believe.

We have instead an almost entirely digital relationship - we exchange emails occasionally about this and that and the state of things and she also follows this blog. A while ago I wrote about a Potato Council campaign to get people eating more of them and, as well as a lovely recipe for salmon with potatoes and pickled cucumber I added photos of other dishes made that morning. Same day I got an email from Judith, amsued at my hobnobbing with James Martin and mentioning that though the salmon dish sounded good she really loved the look of this beautiful soup. I  promised to find her the recipe.

I am embarassed at how long it has taken me to honour that promise but, hey, good things come to those who wait!

Potato, Pea and Watercress Soup

Serves 4 as a lunch dish or dinner for 2 if you add bread and cheese

1 litre vegetable stock
salt
500g fresh or frozen peas
300g fresh watercress
300g smooth potatoes such as Desiree
100g flat leaf parsley
salt and freshly ground pepper
20g butter
1 chopped shallot
1 clove garlic
150ml double cream

4 medium free range eggs
30ml white wine vinegar

Peashoots or cress leaves to decorate

Peel and cut the potatoes into 1cm cubes. Place in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and cook for 4-5 minutes till just tender, then drtain and place to one side.

Next bring water tothe boil in a large pan and add a big pinch of salt. Blanch the parsley and three quarters of the watercress and remove straight away.

Sauté the shallots and garlic in the butter, then add the peas and stock. Cook for 2-3 minutes,until the peas are just tender and bright green, then add the cream. Remove from the heat, add the parsley and watercress and blend for 5 minutes to make it really smooth.

While blending bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the vinegar and a pinch of salt. Set a bowl of iced water alongside. Carefully add the eggs to the water, and boil for exactly 5 ½ minutes, then remove them from the pan and chill in the iced water. 

Place a pile of the cooked potato in the middle of each soup plate, half each egg and place on top. Spoon the soup around the edge, garnish with watercress and drizzle with olive oil.

A really lovely dish to ease yourself into autumn, the eggs can be poached rather than soft boiled if you prefer.

The message of the original post bears repeating too - eat lots of potatoes! Lots more recipes here to feed you well.

Spicy Parsnip Soup with Onion Bhajis

It has been a while.

For the past month while the temperature has been largely below zero the kitchen has been a building site. We have lived on coffee from the local deli Di Lieto's in the morning and various combinations of bread, cheese, salami, olives and rocket in the evenings. Throw in the odd glass of wine and, at the beginning, there were seemingly infinite permutations of this most elegant repast. The plan had been to break up the pattern with dinner out occasionally but it was way too cold to head out after dark. Instead I have tried all the salami's on offer round the corner, revisted all my favourites from Gastronomica and bought a few new ones, made the journey to Maltby Street and sampled some of the exquisite ones on offer. Gianni is now selling cheese in Lower Marsh on Fridays which differ from the cheese at Gastronomica, and Rippon Cheese in Pimlico have a brilliant selection. I love bread from St John, The Old Post Office bakery do some lovely loaves and I discovered the sourdough baked by Franca Manca being sold at Wild Caper in Brixton and it is sublime. Bought a lot of rocket and the occasional peashoot when I found some. The man loved it, cold collation is his absolute favourite.

However there came a time when even he needed respite. The good news is the new kitchen is very nearly installed. And it's beautiful. There are benchtops (yay!) and a sink (possibly the thing I missed most) but still no table and chairs or new lighting or freshly painted surfaces. So I duck in and out, unable to resist making something at the end of every day just keeping it simple. I poached a whole chicken and had it hot with leeks and creamy mash then cold with salad and roasted garlic mayonnaise. There has of course been steak, thick cut rump with mushrooms and salad and crusty bread. On the weekend a feather steak from Nathan, who used to butcher at the Ginger Pig but now has set up in Maltby Street. He advised simply show it the pan and eat it rare and he was right.

Yesterday was a bleak old day in London, wind then rain then drizzle then more rain. Bleuuugh. A most perfect day for soup, conveniently fitting the bill of quick and easy. I had seen a recipe by Angela Hartnett for parsnip soup in The Guardian the other day but what really snagged my attention was serving it with onion bhaji. What a great counterpoint to a bowl of soup - hot and crisp and sweet and salt. Genius.

Spicy Parsnip Soup with Onion Bhajis

This serves two very well for a tasty supper

25g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely sliced
4 medium parsnips and 1 floury potato, peeled and finely sliced
2 tsp curry powder
300ml chicken or vegetable stock or water
150ml double cream

Put the butter and olive oil into a pan. When it warms, add the onion and saute for two minutes. Before the colour changes, add the parsnips and curry powder and continue to fry for five minutes.

Cover with the stock or water, simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Blend the contents into a smooth soup and return to the pan. Then add the cream, bring to the boil and season. If it's too thick, add some stock or milk.

1 medium onion, finely sliced
30g plain flour
Pinch coriander powder
Pinch cumin powder
1 egg, beaten
200ml vegetable or groundnut oil

Put the sliced onion in a bowl with the flour and spices and mix together. Add the egg, season, and mix well.

Heat the oil in a deep pan and add a large spoonful of the bhaji mix. Fry for one minute, turning occasionally until golden brown.

Drain on to kitchen paper and serve with the soup.

The soup was very fine indeed but it was the bhajis that made it into a great supper.

Pumpkin Soup

According to the BBC's Wheel of Hunger Pumpkin Soup is the most searched for recipe this week. Look no further, this is a sublime soup and ethereally beautiful to boot. I heard Heston Blumenthal on Women's Hour last week - yes I'm obsessed but it was actually by chance. He was talking about the delights of this soup and its relative simplicity to make and its resulting complexity when you taste it. With the recipe posted on the BBC site (I seem to be getting my licence fee's worth this week) I couldn't resist.

I love pumpkin, always have. It's a wonderful veg to roast or mash with cream, its vibrant colour brings joy to curries and soups, particularly this time of year as the days get shorter and colder and wetter. We ate it a lot when I was a kid, my mother was a huge fan, with a particular fondness for a type called Queensland Blue. It's a huge beast with steel blue skin and riotously orange flesh, with a good texture and not too sweet. It's only negative is the skin is spectacularly difficult to cut through - I was endlessly trapping a big knife halfway through cutting unable to take it further or get it out again.

Friday I set out to hunt me a piece of pumpkin, a proper tasty thing like we used to eat. I knew Brixton Market would have a good selection and would cut me a hunk to match my specifications. Though there was no chance of the Aussie favourite I was looking for similar - and found a lovely steel blue specimen that turns out is called Crown Prince. Smaller and neater it still has a wonderfully ridged exterior and a smooth orange interior. Perfect. For some reason I assumed it would be easier to peel than the ones of my youth but no, just as infuriatingly difficult as I remember. But worth it.

I was faithful to the Heston version Friday night, coating the inside of the bowls with a nubbly aromatic mix of rosemary, breadcrumbs and hazelnuts but for lunch next day I simply toasted some nuts and crushed them before scattering them over the soup with dots of pepper oil and a light sprinkle of salt chrystals.

This is a wonderfully complex soup with incredible depth of flavour. I must warn you to start early - it takes a while to put it all together but you will be richly rewarded. I can imagine it served in tiny bowls at the start of a long meal, perfect for Christmas Day perhaps at the end of a long bracing walk.

Pumpkin Soup by Heston

It seems odd to weigh liquids but it's actually quick and easy

850g Pumpkin flesh

Olive oil

250g Unsalted butter

3 Onions, peeled and finely sliced

400g Whole milk

4 sprigs of rosemary

Pinch of cayenne pepper

40g Sesame oil (or to taste)

40g Balsamic vinegar (or to taste)

Salt

20g Hazelnuts, toasted until golden brown

½ sprig of rosemary

20g coarse dry breadcrumbs

1 tbsp melted brown butter (see tip below)

1 Red pepper, de-seeded, roasted and peeled, then cut into diamonds

Pumpkin seeds

Red pepper oil (see tip below)

Thinly slice half of the pumpkin on a mandolin and cut the other half into large cubes. Roast the large cubes of pumpkin drizzled with a little olive oil at 180 for 40 minutes.

Melt 200g of the butter in the saucepan and sweat the onions and pumpkin slices for approximately 10 minutes.

In the meantime, in a second pan, heat the milk until almost simmering. Turn off the heat, add the rosemary, allow to infuse for 20 minutes. Strain the liquid and discard the rosemary.

When the onions are translucent, add the rosemary milk, 600g cold tap water and the roasted pumpkin, bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes until the sliced pumpkin is soft. Remove from the heat, liquidize and pass through a fine sieve. Season with cayenne, sesame oil, balsamic vinegar and salt.

When ready to serve, combine the toasted hazelnuts with the rosemary and blitz to a coarse powder. Combine with the breadcrumbs. Brush the inside rim of the soup bowls with the brown butter and coat with the hazelnut and rosemary mixture.

Place some red pepper diamonds and pumpkin seeds in the bottom of each bowl.

Warm the soup, add the remaining 50g of butter and aerate with a hand blender. Ladle into the nut-encrusted bowls and garnish with drops of red pepper oil.

Brown Butter

Melt unsalted butter in a medium pan over a gentle heat, whisking continuously, until the solids turn golden brown and give off a nutty aroma. Take the pan off the heat immediately, strain the butter through a coffee filter and store in the fridge.

Red pepper oil

1 Red pepper, de-seeded, roasted and peeled

100g Groundnut or grapeseed oil

Put the pepper and oil in a liquidizer and blitz until fine.

Strain through a fine sieve and pour into a bottle. Keep in the fridge for 4-5 days only.