Broad bean bruschetta
Barbecue-grilled bread topped with vivid green beans and spread with whipped ricotta flavoured with lemon zest, herbs and a sprinkling of fresh chive flowers makes a perfect starter to a barbecue meal. The fiddliest part is the skinning of the broad beans – but it is so worth it, for the flavour as well as the visual impact.
SERVES 4500g broad beans in their pods
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 slices of sourdough bread
200g ricotta cheese
A small handful of mixed herbs such as chives, mint and chervil, finely chopped
4 chive flowers, to garnish (optional)
Pod the beans and cook them in a pan of salted boiling water for about 2 minutes (the fresher the beans, the quicker they will cook).
Drain the beans, run under cold water to stop them overcooking and then pop them out of their skins. Put into a bowl, season well and add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the lemon juice.
Drizzle a little olive oil over the bread slices, and cook over a barbecue, on a ridged griddle pan, or under a conventional grill until golden brown and crisp.
Mix the ricotta cheese with the lemon zest, plenty of freshly ground black pepper and the chopped herbs. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Spread the ricotta over the bread, and spoon the beans on top. Scatter with chive flowers (if using).
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Electric For toasting the bread, the grill dial should be set to 12 o’clock.
Wood-fired You can toast the bread on the bottom of the oven – the dial should read VERY HOT.
Recipe from my book Summer
Nasturtium butter
This simple butter will bring a spicy accent to many summery dishes. Spread some under the skin of a chicken breast before baking, melt some over roasted vegetables, or simply serve with warm, crusty bread. I like to serve a slice of this butter, with some lemon zest added, on grilled fish.
Nasturtiums flower all summer long and are so colourful. Their round green leaves have a peppery flavour that is an excellent addition to salads and this butter. They are quite strong in flavour, so use sparingly.
You can use this method with other savoury edible flowers, such as thyme, sage and chive, and the petals of marigolds.
SERVES 8200g butter, softened
A handful of nasturtium flowers (petals only), finely chopped
A couple of nasturtium leaves, finely chopped
Using a fork, or in a food processor, work the butter until it is very soft, then add the chopped flowers and leaves, and mix well.
Scoop the flavoured butter onto a piece of baking parchment. Roll the paper over the butter, shaping it into an even-sized log. Twist the ends of the paper firmly to seal it.
Chill for about 30 minutes until firm. Store in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze and use, sliced into discs, straight from the freezer.
Recipe from my book Summer
Rose petal and cardamom shortbread
The Roseraie de l’Haÿ variety of rose in our garden produces wonderfully fragrant blooms. I like to gather the petals and dry them in the slow-cook oven of my Esse stove for a couple of hours, filling the kitchen with their gorgeous perfume.
I use the dried petals in these crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits. They make the most of the rose’s fragrance and would be the perfect edible gift.
Note that you need to dry and cool the rose petals before you start making the shortbread. If you don’t have any rose petals, you could make chocolate shortbread instead – simply replace 30g of the cornflour with cocoa powder.
MAKES ABOUT 22 BISCUITS, depending on their size1 large handful of fresh rose petals (or more, if you want to make extra to use another time)
7 green cardamom pods
180g butter, softened
90g golden caster sugar
170g spelt flour
100g cornflour
First, pick your roses – ideally on a dry, sunny day. Gently remove the petals and spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Put them in your oven set to its lowest setting for a couple of hours, until dry and papery, but not brown. Leave to cool thoroughly, and store in an airtight container until you want to use them.
Lightly crack the cardamom seeds and extract the black seeds. Discard the husks.
Put the butter and cardamom seeds into a mixing bowl and beat until soft, then add the sugar and beat well. Add the flour, cornflour and a handful of crushed dried rose petals, and mix well to give a soft dough. (Alternatively, put the butter, sugar, cardamom seeds, flour, cornflour and a handful of crushed dried rose petals into a food processor, and pulse until a soft dough forms.)
Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 170˚C (150˚C fan) and lightly flour your work surface. Cut the ball of dough in two, and roll out one half until the thickness of a pound coin.
Use a cutter of your chosen shape to stamp out your biscuits, then gather the trimmings and re-roll as necessary. Place the biscuits on a lined baking tray,
spacing them out well.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Let them cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat
with the remaining dough.
The biscuits will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.
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Electric For drying the rose petals, use the slow-cook oven. For best results, bake the biscuits with the steam vent open.
Wood-fired For drying the rose petals, place them on a wire rack near the stove for several hours. For baking the biscuits, the oven dial should read between MOD and HOT.
Recipe from my book Summer