One-pot golden chicken and butter beans (pictured above)
Prep 15 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 4
1.6–1.8kg chicken, jointed, or 4 legs, split into thighs and drumsticks
3 tbsp vegetable oil or light olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, squashed (skin on)
10 sprigs thyme
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
300g large-leaf spinach, washed and stalks finely chopped
1 x 600g jar butter beans (or 400g cooked butter beans, plus 200ml cooking liquor)
Crusty bread, to serve
You will need a large, heavy-based frying pan, skillet or casserole dish.
Lay the chicken pieces on a plate, season with salt and leave for five to 10 minutes.
Put the pan on a medium-high heat and add the oil. Lay the chicken skin side down in the pan and leave to fry for 15 minutes. After eight minutes, slot the sliced onion and garlic in and around the chicken. (If using a whole bird, fry only the thigh and leg pieces to begin with, adding the breast pieces at the same time as the onion and garlic.)
After 15 minutes, the chicken skin should be golden and crisp. Turn the pieces over and pour 300ml water into the pan. This should come about halfway up and not touch the skin. Add the thyme and lemon zest, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Transfer the chicken to a plate and reduce the heat to low-medium. Put the spinach in the pan, decant the beans and the liquid from the jar on top, and leave for three to four minutes. There should be 3–4cm of liquid in the pan. This should be a brothy dish, so add extra water if necessary.
Once the spinach has wilted, return the chicken to the pan (with skin still clear of the liquid). Warm for five minutes more, then stir in the lemon juice. Serve in wide bowls or deep plates, with bread.
Malfatti with mushrooms and sage
Prep 20 min
Chill 1 hr
Cook 20 min
Serves 4-6
250g wild mushrooms
40g butter
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
12 sage leaves
Juice of ½ lemon
For the malfatti:
500g ricotta
4 large egg yolks
80g ‘00’ flour
30g picked parsley leaves, finely chopped
60g parmesan, grated
Zest of 1 lemon, grated
½ nutmeg, finely grated
Fine semolina flour, for dusting
Salt and black pepper
First, make the malfatti. Put the ricotta, egg yolks, flour, parsley and 40g parmesan in a bowl. Add the lemon zest, nutmeg, two good pinches each of salt and black pepper, and mix.
Dust a baking tray with semolina flour. Use a teaspoon to scoop up some ricotta mix and another to help you shape it into an oval. You don’t need to be too precise. Scrape the dumpling on to the semolina and roll it to the other end of the tray. Repeat until you’ve used up all the mixture – you should have around 20 malfatti. Add a dusting of semolina over them, cover and chill in the fridge for an hour.
Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth, cut away woody bits at the base and tear large ones so they are a similar size.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Drop the malfatti in and cook for two to three minutes (they are done when they float). Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Place a frying pan over a high heat. Add two-thirds of the butter and, when it’s frothing, add the mushrooms, garlic, sage and a pinch of salt and pepper. When the mushrooms release their juices, add the remaining butter, lemon juice and half a ladle of malfatti cooking water.
Shake the pan, then add the malfatti. Roll them around a bit to warm, then serve with the mushrooms spooned on top and the remaining parmesan.
Lincolnshire poacher cheese apple pie
Prep 45 min
Chill 2 hr 30 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 6-8
For the pastry
375g plain flour
225g cold unsalted butter, cubed
80g cold Lincolnshire poacher cheese, cubed
A pinch of salt
3 tbsp fridge-cold water
1 tbsp cider vinegar
3 tbsp caster sugar
Whole milk, for brushing
For the filling
Juice of 1 lemon
1.2kg bramley apples
3 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
6 cloves
Cream, to serve
You will need a 22–23cm pie dish. Put the flour, butter, cheese and salt in a food processor, and pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and cider vinegar, and pulse again until the pastry comes together. Divide into two, one piece slightly bigger than the other, and squash each into a disc. Wrap and refrigerate for two hours.
Unwrap and roll the larger disc between greaseproof paper until it can line the dish with a 1–2cm overhang. Repeat with the second disc and chill both pastry sheets for 30 minutes.
Put the lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Peel and chop the apples, and add to the lemon juice. Sprinkle over the sugar, then transfer half the apples and the cloves to a heavy-based saucepan. Stew on a low heat for 15–20 minutes, until soft. Pick out the cloves, then mix back with the uncooked apples.
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas 6. Line the dish with the larger pastry sheet. Fill with the apples, then brush the edges with milk. Lay the second pastry sheet over the top, pushing the edges together. Cut three small holes in the top with a knife. Brush with milk, then bake for 30 minutes. Remove and brush with milk again, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden. Remove, and cool for five minutes. Serve with cream.
Baked figs with ginger butter biscuits
Prep 15 min
Chill 20 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 6
For the biscuits
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
90g caster sugar
100g plain flour, sifted
20g cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
For the figs
10 sage leaves
6 plump fresh figs
2 tbsp warm water
3 tbsp raw honey
150g creme fraiche, to serve
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas 6 and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl using a wooden spoon. Add the remaining ingredients, mix and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Roll a walnut-sized teaspoon of dough in your hands into a ball, repeating to make six balls using half the dough. Space them evenly on the baking tray and bake for eight minutes, until they start to turn golden. Remove and cool on the tray, then slide them off with a palette knife. Repeat with the remaining dough, then store in an airtight container.
For the figs, reheat the oven to 200C/390F/gas 6. Put four of the sage leaves in the base of an ovenproof dish that will fit the figs. Cut a cross into each fruit from the stalk to two-thirds of the way down. Squeeze each fig at its base to encourage the centre to open, and slot a sage leaf in each. Place the figs in the dish. Mix the honey with the water and pour it over the figs.
Bake for 15–20 minutes, basting with the juices after 10 minutes. The figs should be soft but intact.
Decant the figs into bowls. Pour a couple of spoons of juice over the top of each and serve with a dollop of creme fraiche and two biscuits per person.
