Angela Hartnett in the Guardian recommends this as a good substitute for a meat sauce for pasta – ‘loads of flavour and sure to satisfy’. For a seasonal twist, you can shave some chestnuts on top.
Serves 3-4
Preparation 5 minutes
Cooking 10-12 minutes
Ingredients
200g kale
370g dried egg tagliatelle
30ml olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
½ red chilli, chopped
2 tsp capers
salt and pepper
grated parmesan
1 tbsp pine nuts
Method
Prepare the kale by tearing the leaves from the stems and cutting them into strips. Blanch them in a large pan of boiling salted water for four minutes, until just cooked. Drain the kale using a slotted spoon and bring the water back to the boil.
Add the pasta and cook as instructed on the packet until al dente. Meanwhile, add the olive oil and onion to a pan and saute for about three minutes. Throw in the garlic and chilli for a further minute. Add the kale and capers, season with salt and pepper and toss everything together.
Remove the pan from the heat and leave to one side while your pasta cooks. Drain the tagliatelle and add it to the kale and onion. Toss well together and finish with the pine nuts and parmesan.
Photo: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
Yotam Ottolenghi is very keen on swiss chard and this recipe is from his latest book Jerusalem, co-authored with Sami Tamimi. Of these fritters, he says, ‘The intense green colour of these fritters , originally Turkish, is paralleled by a wonderfully concentrated “green” flavour of chard and herbs. They are a truly marvellous way to start a meal.’
Serves 4 as a starter
Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking 10 minutes
Ingredients
400g swiss chard leaves, stalks removed
30g flat-leaf parsley
20g coriander
20g dill
1½ tsp grated nutmeg
½ tsp sugar
3 tbsp plain flour
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 medium eggs
80g feta, broken into small pieces
60ml olive oil
1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges
salt and black pepper
Method
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the chard and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the leaves and squeeze them well until completely dry. Place in a food processor along with the herbs, nutmeg, sugar, flour, garlic eggs, salt and peppeer. Blitz until smooth and then fold the feta through the mix by hand.
Pour a tablespoon of oil into a medium frying pan. Put over medium-high heat and spoon in a heaped tablespoon of mixture for each fritter. Press down gently to get a 7cm wide and 1cm thick fritter. You should be able to fit about three at a time. Cook for 3-4 minutes in total, turning once, until the fritters have taken on some colour. Transfer to kitchen paper then keep each batch warm while you cook the remaining mixture. Serve at once with a wedge of lemon.
Ching-He Huang’s recipe (picture too) from the BBC Good Food website. Good with stir-fried pak choi or five-spice chicken.
Serves 4 as a side dish
Preparation 15 minutes
Cooking 10 minutes
Ingredients
200g medium dried egg noodles
a couple of dashes toasted sesame oil (optional)
1 tbsp groundnut oil
piece of fresh ginger, grated
150g fresh shiitake mushrooms
4 spring onions, cut into thirds, then thinly sliced into lengthways strips
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
Method
Cook the noodles according to pack instructions, then toss with a little sesame oil (or other oil) to stop them sticking.
Heat a wok or large wide pan over a high heat, then add the groundnut oil. Once it’s smoking, add the ginger, stir-fry for a couple of secs, then add the mushrooms with a splash of water to create steam, and cook for 1 minute. Toss through the cooked noodles for 2 minutes until hot, then add the spring onions, oyster and soy sauces and (optional) a dash more sesame oil.
Roasted cauliflower makes a delicious crunchy winter salad in this recipe from BBC Good Food. You can use the mixed salad leaves in Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes instead of the baby spinach.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
1 cauliflower, broken into florets
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion , thinly sliced
3 tbsp sherry vinegar
1½ tbsp honey
3 tbsp raisins
small bunch dill , snipped
3 tbsp toasted, flaked almonds
50g baby spinach
Method
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Toss the cauliflower with the olive oil, season and roast for 15 mins. Stir in the red onion and carry on roasting for 15-20 mins more until tender.
While the cauliflower is roasting, mix the vinegar, honey and raisins with some seasoning. When the cauliflower is done, stir in the dressing, dill, almonds and spinach, and serve.
- More roasted cauliflower recipes
Roasted curried cauliflower
Roasted cauliflower gigli with pine nuts and currants
I was amused to come across the WTF, CSA section in the Huffington Post (thanks to Rupert Dunn).
The idea is that when you shout “WTF?” into your weekly veg box Huffington can tell you what on earth to do with a glut of basil, or aubergine fatigue, or a particularly tricky vegetable like the kohlrabi we’ve got in Camel CSA’s small boxes this week.
Now I don’t see the point of cooking kohlrabi (although there are some perfectly nice-sounding recipes). I prefer to eat it raw as it’s deliciously crunchy and juicy. Just make sure you peel off the tough skin before sticking your teeth in.
This take on the famous Waldorf salad is from Riverford Organic.
If you have just one kohlrabi, this salad works for two people – simply divide the amounts by three.
Serves: 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
3 kohlrabi, peeled + cut into small segments
2 crisp, red-skinned apples, cored + diced
2 little gem lettuces, shredded (or mixed salad leaves)
a little lemon juice
a handful of watercress (optional)
75g walnuts, lightly toasted + broken into pieces
For the walnut dressing
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp light olive oil
2 tbsp walnut oil
a pinch each of celery salt, salt + pepper
Method
Combine the kohl rabi, apples and little gem lettuces in a serving bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning. Add the watercress, if using, and the toasted walnuts.
Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well.
If, like me, you’re fond of carrot cake, you’ll enjoy this. It’s another way of using up the flesh from the Hallowe’en pumpkin in Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes.
This is adapted from the recipe in BBC GoodFood (which adds a rich frosting). There are quite a few different versions. Tess, one of our CSA members, includes pine nuts in hers (a delicious addition) and finishes with a swirl of glace icing.
Serves: 15 portions
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 mins
Ingredients
For the cake
300g self-raising flour
300g light muscovado sugar
3 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
175g sultanas
½ tsp salt
4 eggs, beaten
200g butter, melted
zest 1 orange
1 tbsp orange juice
500g (peeled weight) pumpkin or butternut squash flesh, grated
For the drizzle
100g icing sugar , sifted
zest 1 orange and juice of half
Method
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line a 30 x 20cm baking or small roasting tin with baking parchment.
Put the flour, sugar, spice, bicarbonate of soda, sultanas and salt into a large bowl and stir to combine. Beat the eggs into the melted butter, stir in the orange zest and juice, then mix with the dry ingredients till combined. Stir in the pumpkin. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 30 mins, or until golden and springy to the touch.
Mix together the icing sugar, orange zest and juice. When the cake is done, cool for 5 mins then turn it onto a cooling rack. Prick it all over with a skewer and drizzle with the icing mixture while still warm. Leave to cool completely.
BBC GoodFood says: “Pumpkins can vary dramatically in water content, so keep an eye on the cake towards the end of cooking – yours may take less or more time to cook through. If you’re not carving out a pumpkin this year butternut squash works brilliantly, too.”
This autumnal twist on a traditional Italian favourite comes from Barney Desmazery, food editor of BBC Good Food. He uses butternut squash but I substituted the grey-green Crown Prince variety from Camel CSA’s weekly veg box. And still had plenty left over to make a big batch of spiced squash soup.
Serves: 4
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
1kg squash , peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
3 tbsp olive oil
bunch sage , leaves picked, half roughly chopped, half left whole
1½ l vegetable stock
50g butter
1 onion , finely chopped
300g risotto rice
1 small glass white wine
50g parmesan, finely grated
Method
Before you make the risotto, heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Toss the squash in 1 tbsp oil together with the chopped sage. Scatter into a shallow roasting tin and roast for 30 mins until it is brown and soft.
While the squash is roasting, prepare the risotto. Bring the stock to the boil and keep on a low simmer.In a separate pan, melt half the butter over a medium heat. Stir in the onions and sweat gently for 8-10 mins until soft but not coloured, stirring occasionally. Stir the rice into the onions until completely coated in the butter, then stir continuously until the rice is shiny and the edges of the grain start to look transparent.
Pour in the wine and simmer until totally evaporated. Add the stock, a ladleful at a time and stirring the rice over a low heat for 25-30 mins, until the rice is cooked al dente (with a slightly firm, starchy bite in the middle). The risotto should be creamy and slightly soupy. When you draw a wooden spoon through it, there should be a wake that holds for a few moments but not longer.
At the same time, gently fry the whole sage leaves in a little olive oil until crisp, then set aside on kitchen paper. When the squash is cooked, mash half of it to a rough purée and leave half whole. When the risotto is just done, stir though the purée, then add the cheese and butter and leave to rest for a few mins. Serve the risotto scattered with the whole chunks of squash and the crisp sage leaves.
I like to eat freshly-picked sweetcorn with Cornish butter (preferably from Trewithen Dairy). When I’m not feeling so pure but want to keep it simple, I use this recipe from Riverford Organic Farms.
The chillies are ripening in Camel CSA’s polytunnel. One will be enough in this dish, as they’re quite hot.
Serves: 4
Preparation: 5-10 minutes
Cooking: 5-10 minutes
Ingredients
4 corn cobs, cut into 3-4cm pieces
about 75g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2x 5cm lengths lemongrass (optional),
2 mild red chillies, deseeded & finely chopped
zest & juice 1 lime
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
sea salt & ground black pepper
Method
Heat the butter and oil in a large pan. Add the sweetcorn, lemongrass and chilli. Stir for 2 mins. Add the lime zest and juice, with 4 tbsp water.
Cover and cook for 6-8 mins, stirring every now and then, until the corn is cooked. Keep an eye on the liquid and top up a little if needed. Season to taste and stir in the coriander to serve.
We’ve a glut of tomatoes in Camel CSA’s polytunnel. This quick and easy way of using up a surplus is rich and full-flavoured. I added a big bunch of our homegrown basil at the whizzing up stage.
It’s a River Cottage Community recipe. Lula, the author, says: “Once you have made this you will never use tinned tomatoes again! Make throughout the tomato season, freeze and defrost in the depths of winter when you need a reminder of summer…”
Serves: 4
Preparation: no more than 10 minutes
Cooking: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1kg ripe, full flavoured tomatoes (perfect for using up a glut)
2-3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
Arrange the tomato halves, tightly packed but not covering each other, in an ovenproof dish. Slice the garlic and place a piece on each tomato half. Drizzle olive oil over the dish evenly and season with salt and pepper. Roast in medium hot oven around 180 degrees until soft, pulpy and slightly charred.River Cottage suggests rubbing through a sieve but for speed and to save waste, whizz in a food processor, skins and all. Perfect as a pasta sauce on its own or as a base for other sauces.
This incredibly simple dish from BBC Good Food comes via the Grow to Love campaign at Horticulture Wales. (Thanks to Tony Little of Canolfan Organig Cymru/Organic Centre Wales for the tip-off.)
You can use any kind of kale to make it. This year at Camel CSA we’re growing two varieties – red Russian and Tuscan (cavalo nero), which are much superior in taste and texture to common curly kale.
Serves: 2-3
Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 10 minutes
Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large garlic clove, sliced
200g kale,chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Method
Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan, then tip in the garlic and cook for a few secs. Throw in the kale and toss around the pan to coat in the garlicky oil.
Pour over 100ml boiling water and cook for 7 mins more until the kale has wilted and is cooked through. Stir in the soy and oyster sauces and heat through to serve.
Try with… Grilled chicken, pork or beef and a bowl of aromatic steamed rice.
