Seasonal local food recipe No.347 – Jamie’s roasted apple and squash soup

Mark, one of our core group members, recommends this soup recipe from Jamie Oliver’s Great Britain.  We don’t bother with the cream though,” Mark says, “as it’s rich enough!” Although the recipe uses the butternut variety, any decent squash would do.

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes

Ingredients
1 squash (roughly 1kg), peeled, de-seeded and chopped into 2.5 cm chunks
3 good eating apples, peeled, cored and quartered
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 or 2 fresh red chillies, halved and de-seeded
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled and bashed
Olive oil
Sea salt and ground pepper
Pinch of coriander seeds
Few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
3 heaped tablespoons pumpkin seeds
Pinch of cayenne pepper
800ml cups organic vegetable or chicken stock
150ml single cream

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.  Put the chunks of squash, apple, onion, chillies and garlic on to a baking sheet and drizzle with a good amount of olive oil.  Add a good pinch of salt and pepper and a pinch of coriander seeds and a little chopped rosemary.  Toss everything together so all the veg is nicely coated then cook for around 45 minutes or until everything is cooked through, intensely golden and delicious.

Toss the pumpkin seeds with salt, pepper, olive oil and the cayenne.  Spread on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes then put aside for later.

Put some of the roasted veg into a blender, making sure you squeeze the garlic flesh out of its skin first.  Add a swig of stock and gently blitz until smooth and lovely.  Put this into a large pan while you blitz the rest.  Pour in most of the cream and bring to a simmer over a medium to low heat.

Have a taste, season to perfection. To serve, divide between bowls and add a swirl of cream and a sprinkling of roasted seeds.

Seasonal local food recipe No.337- Jamie’s mixed leaf salad with mozzarella, mint, peach and prosciutto

This recipe comes from Jamie Oliver‘s The return of the Naked Chef.  If, like me, you don’t like prosciutto in the salad just leave it off the plate.

Serves 2

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
Mixed salad leaves
1 mozzarella
2 peaches, skinned and quartered
4 slices prosciutto
a few mint leaves, torn

olive oil and lemon dressing – whisk together the following:
5 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
Put the salad leaves and mint on a flat serving dish and dress with a little of the dressing.  Scatter the peach quarters and torn up mozzarella over the top.  Lay the prosciutto (if using) over the top.  Serve with some good bread to mop up the juices.

Seasonal local food recipe No.336 – Jamie’s sweet cherry tomato and sausage bake

My husband used our bag of tomatoes to make this delicious sausage dish from Jamie Oliver last night.  He finely chopped  the rosemary before cooking and cut the larger tomatoes into chunks.  He served the finished dish with garlic bread.

Serves: 6

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 45-60 minutes

Ingredients
2 kg ripe cherry tomatoes
2 sprigs each of fresh thyme, rosemary and bay
1 tbsp dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
12 good-quality Cumberland or coarse Italian pork sausages
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
sea-salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5.  Get an appropriately sized roasting tray, large enough to take the tomatoes in one snug-fitting layer.  Put in all your tomatoes, the herb sprigs, oregano, garlic and sausages.  Drizzle well with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

Toss together, then make sure the sausages are on top and pop the tray into the oven for half an hour.  After this time, give it a shake and turn the sausages over.  Put back into the oven for 15-30 minutes, depending on how golden and sticky you like your sausages.

Once it’s cooked, you’ll have an intense, tomatoey sauce.  If it’s a little too thin, lift out the sausages and place the tray on the hob to cook it down to the consistency you like – I tend to make mine quite thick – then put the sausages back in.

Check the seasoning and serve either with a good-quality loaf of bread warmed through in a low oven for 10 minutes (great for mopping up the sauce!) or with mashed potato, rice or polenta, a green salad and a nice glass of wine.

Seasonal local food recipe No.318 – Jamie’s wonderful wild garlic and sausage fusilli

A simple supper dish to celebrate the start of spring here in Cornwall. Jamie Oliver says: “This garlicky pasta has a deep, earthy flavour – totally delicious with the Cumberland sausage.”

Serves: 4

Preparation/cooking time: 50 minutes

Ingredients
2 heaped teaspoons fennel seeds
2 dried red chillies, crumbled
olive oil
4 higher-welfare coarse Italian or Cumberland sausages
4 handfuls wild garlic leaves, washed
320g fusilli
1 lemon
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 small handful freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method
Bash up the fennel seeds and chillies in a pestle and mortar, then put to one side. Heat a splash of olive oil in a pan on a medium heat. Cut open the sausage skins and squeeze the meat into the pan. Stir it around with a wooden spoon, breaking it up into small pieces so it resembles coarse mince. Fry for a few minutes until the meat starts to colour and the fat has started to render out.

Add the bashed up fennel seeds and chillies to the meat, and cook on a medium heat for around 10 minutes until the meat is crisp, dark golden brown and caramelised. Turn the heat down to low.

Put a large saucepan of salted water on to boil. Blanch the wild garlic leaves in the boiling water for 3 minutes, then scoop out and put in a food processor. Add the fusilli to the water, bring it back to the boil and cook according to the packet instructions. Blitz the leaves in the food processor until you have a deep green sauce, then add a glug of olive oil, a grating of lemon zest and a pinch of salt and pepper.

When the pasta is al dente, drain it in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water. Put the pasta back in the saucepan and add a splash of the cooking water and a squeeze of lemon juice. Gently stir the lovely green sauce into the pasta to coat it then immediately divide the pasta between your bowls. Top with the delicious crisp sausage meat and a nice grating of Parmesan cheese, and serve.

Seasonal local food recipe No.308 – Jamie’s roasted chicken breast with creamy butternut squash and chilli

This simple one-person meal from Cook by Jamie Oliver could easily be scaled up to feed more people.  The recipe calls for butternut squash but I’m going to use the uchiki kuri squash in my veg box instead.

Serves 1

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25-35 minutes

Ingredients
1 chicken breast with skin on
1/4 medium butternut squash
1/2 fresh red chilli
leaves from a couple of sprigs of fresh marjoram or oregano
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a little double cream
freshly grated nutmeg
a little olive oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6.

Put the chicken breast, with its skin left on, in a bowl.  Deseed and slice up 1/2 a fresh red chilli and add to the bowl with the leaves from a couple of sprigs of fresh marjoram or oregano, a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Toss together then place the chicken breast and flavourings from the bowl into a snug fitting baking dish. 

Cut a medium butternut squash into quarters.  Remove the seeds and slice one quarter of the squash as finely as you can.  Snugly fit the squash slices around the chicken and carefully pour a little double cream around the squash (not on the chicken).

Season with freshly grated nutmeg and salt and pepper, then drizzle with some olive oil and cook in the middle of the oven for 25 to 35 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown.

Seasonal local food recipe No.276 – Jamie’s cauliflower cheese soup

This recipe is from Jamie Oliver’s book Ministry of Food.  It comes recommended by Charlotte, one of the founder members of Camel CSA.

Serves 6

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
2 medium onions
2 cloves of garlic
800g cauliflower
olive oil
200g Cheddar cheese, grated
2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes
salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon English mustard

Method
Dice the carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Cut the cauliflower into florets.  Into a large pan add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and put over a medium heat, add the diced vegetables. Cook for 10 minutes with a lid partially placed over the pan or until the carrots have softened and the onion is lightly golden.

Grate the cheese. Put the stock cubes into a jug and pour in 1.8 litres of boiling water from a kettle. Add to the vegetables in the pan. Stir and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or so until the vegetables are cooked.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the cheese and mustard, season with salt and pepper. Use a hand blender and pulse until silky smooth – if using a liquidiser let the soup cool down, never put hot liquid into a liquidiser.  Top with more grated cheese. You could also top with some crispy bacon.

Seasonal local food recipe No.223 – Jamie’s and Ami’s flavoured greens

This week’s recipe comes from chef Ami Phillips at Relish Food & Drink in Wadebridge. A couple of days ago she created platters of antipasti for the lunchtime menu using the contents of a Camel CSA veg box. Everybody wanted some!

Ami is a graduate of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall restaurant at Watergate Bay. Her food is heavily influenced by Italian cooking and she’s been at Relish for 15 months. She got this recipe while working at Fifteen. It can be done using any type of greens, but is a great use for chard.

Serves: 4
Preparation /cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
4 large handfuls of chard or other greens
3 large cloves of garlic
1 red chilli
olive oil
knob of butter
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
sea salt
black pepper

Method
Trim and wash your chard thoroughly. Run a knife down the length of any stalks to ensure faster, more even cooking.

Blanch for 2 minutes in boiling salted water. Tougher winter greens may need longer cooking. Then refresh under cold running water, drain well and set aside.

Grate the garlic cloves, de-seed the red chilli and dice it finely, then put it all in a bowl and cover with olive oil. Heat a frying pan, melt a good chunk of butter and add the chilli and garlic mixture, stirring over a low heat so as to not add colour. Add the chard  and 2-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, Cornish sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Once everything is piping hot, serve!

Seasonal local food recipe No.213 – Jamie’s crunchy raw beetroot salad with feta and pear

It has to be said I’m not a great fan of beetroot but this recipe has become a staple in our household.  It is from Jamie Oliver’s book Cook with Jamie.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
No cooking!

Ingredients
4 beetroots, peeled and cut into fine matchsticks
3 ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into matchsticks
lemon oil dressing – the juice of half a lemon mixed with 5 tbs olive oil, seasoned and well shaken
salt and pepper
200g feta cheese
a small bunch of fresh mint, smallest leaves picked
optional: a large handful of sunflower seeds

Method
Dress the beetroot and pear matchsticks in a little of the lemon oil dressing and season with some salt and pepper.  Taste to check the flavours are balanced and lovely, and add a little more lemon juice to check the sweetness of the pears and beetroots if you need to.

Divide the salad between four plates or put it on a big platter, crumble over the creamy white feta, and sprinkle with the baby mint leaves and the sunflower seeds if using them.

Seasonal local food recipe No.150: Jamie’s best whole-baked baby carrots

We have REAL baby carrots in this week’s veg boxes – not the baby-cut carrots that are heavily marketed in supermarkets as a healthy alternative to junk food.

Real baby carrots are delectable eaten raw or lightly steamed. They are also delicious roasted, in this simple recipe from Jamie Oliver. He says: “By cooking them first covered by tinfoil, they steam and exchange flavours with the herbs and garlic. Then when you remove the foil they start to roast and sweeten.”

Serves: 4

Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 40-50 minutes

Ingredients
750g/1lb 10oz young bunched carrots, different colours if possible, washed and scrubbed
olive oil
herb or red wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
3 cloves of garlic, crushed

Method
Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Toss your carrots with a good glug of olive oil, a splash of vinegar, salt and pepper, the thyme sprigs and the garlic cloves.

Place in a roasting tray or earthenware dish, cover tightly with tinfoil and cook for 30 to 40 minutes until just tender. Remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes until the carrots have browned and caramelized nicely.

Baby carrots with lemon and thyme
Summer carrots, herb sauce