Recipes

At the Farm Shop we don’t treat cooking as a precise science, nor are we trying to give a comprehensive list of recipes. These are some of our favourite dishes and we hope you’ll give some of them a try. They’ve worked for us on countless occasions but that doesn’t mean, with a bit of imagination and a few tweaks, they can’t be improved. Good luck.
<img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bafce3d67ba5226356f86d6f725ea24ecc054998d1b1e00682cd7d2d7ef7a38a?s=96&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bafce3d67ba5226356f86d6f725ea24ecc054998d1b1e00682cd7d2d7ef7a38a?s=192&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-96 photo' height='96' width='96' />Recipes by Ben Watson
View all recipes
Panzanella – Tuscan bread and tomato saladBy Ben WatsonAs my sister said to me - 'who would have thought bread and tomatoes could be so delicious'.? Actually, it wasn’t a surprise to me because so many things start with a holy trinity of good bread, tomatoes and punchy olive oil. The secret is in the bread rather than the toms. The wrong bread and it will degenerate into pap. Tasty pap but pap nonetheless.Almond Thief sourdough works, as does Baker Toms ciabatta or focaccia. Remove any tough crust and tear into pieces. Leave somewhere warm to dry out overnight. +If, when you've finished, the salad seems a bit dry, don't despair - juts add a little more passata, oil and vinegar..
Confit Duck CassouletBy Ben WatsonIn the past I’ve been a little snooty about the duck confit and opted for a bit of lamb. But now that we know it isn’t going to kill us, I have to admit that it does bring a certain unctuosity to the party so it’s quack quack all round. Ham hock isn’t traditional either but as the excellent Felicity Cloake pointed out in The Guardian, it replaces both the cured meat and pigs skin so it’s oink oink there too.
Uncle Vito’s Meatball SauceBy Ben WatsonWhy anyone wants to eat boring old Spaghetti Bolognese when they could be eating this beats me. This is the kind of food they all sat around eating in The Godfather, which probably explains why they were all so fat, (except you, Vito).The key ingredient is a good high meat content, fairly spicy, Italian meatball. We make one with pork, bacon, fennel seeds, and a little chilli and garlic, which is brilliant for this recipe.
1 … 9 10 11