Pumpkin pie often brings to mind a sweet Thanksgiving dessert, best eaten under a generous cloud of cream. Chris Sherville takes it in a different direction with this savoury Greek-inspired version: roasted pumpkin or squash, warming spices, chickpeas, almonds and herbs, all tucked into crisp, golden filo. A little honey and mint finish it beautifully. It’s a lovely way to make the most of a squash harvest, and just as welcome for lunch as it is at supper.
I’ve left out the feta mentioned in your draft because it isn’t in the recipe ingredients.
Some dishes are worth taking your time over. Fabada Asturiana is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew from Asturias, where creamy beans take on the flavour of smoked chorizo, morcilla, panceta and saffron. It’s a hearty dish for a long lunch, and even better made the day before. This recipe comes from Monika Linton’s Brindisa: The True Food of Spain, shared with permission.
Good bread deserves a second outing. This comforting savoury bake layers bread with caramelised onions, herbs and cheese, then lets everything soak up a rich egg and cream mixture before it goes in the oven. It’s a lovely way to use up odds and ends of bread, cheese and herbs, and a handy dish to prepare the night before when you’re feeding a crowd. Serve it warm with a crisp, fresh salad.
When the evenings turn chilly, this creamy smoked salmon linguine makes a lovely supper without the wait for a slow-cooked dish. Chris Sherville’s recipe pairs our new Ben’s Farm Shop smoked salmon with lemon, Parmesan and a little garlic for a fresh, satisfying bowl of comfort. Finish with peppery rocket or parsley, and bring it straight to the table.
Brisket is exactly the sort of cut that rewards patience. Give it Guinness, black treacle and a few hours of gentle cooking, and what starts as a relatively inexpensive piece of beef becomes meltingly tender, dark and ridiculously rich. The Guinness and treacle mellow into a deep, glossy sauce, while the oven does most of the work. Chris Sherville’s recipe is proper autumn and winter comfort food, best served with buttery mashed potato and seasonal greens.
A proper, rustic Italian supper: chicken slowly cooked with a generous sofrito of onion, carrot and celery, then finished with tomatoes, olives, garlic and rosemary. Choose red wine for the Tuscan version, or white wine and mushrooms for the Roman one. Either way, the chicken turns tender and the sauce is made for mopping up with bread.
Falling halfway between dried and fresh, they might take a little more cooking, but they’re worth it. Good as a vegetable side, as part of a quick casserole, or in ribollita or minestrone soup. They’re a fantastic bean - the only downside being that they lose their graffiti markings when they’re cooked.
I always think of stuffed vegetables, and fruit, being a bit retro and reminiscent of a slightly pretentious 1970’s dinner party menu - but what goes around comes around and, as I always say to my wife - give your mother a break. Or at least when it comes to her dinner party menus.
Baked apples probably wouldn’t have featured in one of my mother-in-law’s west London dinner parties. They’re more Jane Austin or Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour where they’d probably have featured as part of an enormous breakfast buffet.
They’re actually quite hard to cook as, even when left whole, Bramley apples have a tendency to explode when they reach a certain point. You need the sharp acidity so other apples aren’t really an option - although, if you can get them, Raymond Blanc’s beloved Golden Reinette might be an option.
If you like jazzing up your Sunday roast a stuffed baked apple would be an option but I’d be more inclined to serve them a s a simple supper - with mash and gravy - and maybe an extra sausage on the side.
A Greek-inspired recipe from Chris Sherville (yes chef), these tomato keftedes are packed with ripe tomatoes, fresh herbs, feta and Parmesan, then fried until crisp and golden. A good way to make the most of tomatoes while they’re still in season.