recipes from organic local produce in our farm shops

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.

Along with Tuscan Panzanella, Sicilian Caponata is a good way of pulling any mezze or antipasti style meal together and, as such and given how long it keeps, should have a berth in everyone’s fridge through the summer. Most people don’t see caponata as a pickle but it ticks most of the boxes and will keep for at least a week in the fridge. For an even longer life, put it in a jar, press down to get the air bubbles out and pasteurise to a core temperature of 72degC for twenty minutes.

Baba GanoushBy Ben WatsonWhether grilled, charred or cooked on an open-flame, 'smokiness' is what defines this classic mezze dish. There are many ways to skin an aubergine and it seems to be the fiddlier and messier, the better the result.

Rowley Leigh’s CaponataBy Ben WatsonTraditionally a Sicilian dish, caponata can be found in numerous variations of chopped aubergines, celery, capers and with older versions that even include cocoa powder. Although, this could be a step too far. Last July, chef Rowley Leigh hosted a Summer Feast with us and he opened with his classic caponata recipe served alongside our charcuterie.

Bengali baked cauliflower, brown rice and pickled onionsBy JasminChef James Dodd prepares perfect, easy dishes to cook for your partner on Valentine's day. Cauliflower is a superb and versatile bit of veg and a great alternative to a piece of meat.

Tasty BBQ spiced pork ribs, punched potatoes and slawBy JasminPotentially one of the more messy valentines meals you’ll eat and potentially reserved for the well-established couple who aren’t adverse to embarrassing themselves but seeing as we aren’t necessarily able to meet new prospective flames at this odd time in lockdown my assumption is that over the past year we have all learned to get to know one another even better so this recipe will certainly satisfy. The spice mix will make a little more than needed and I’d even recommend making double the recipe as its fantastic dusted on all sorts from nuts to tomatoes before roasting.

Ultimate ChilliBy JasminThe best Chilli con CarneThere are few things as welcome and comforting as a bowl of chilli. A big pot just gets better and better as you go through the rice, baked potatoes, wraps stages and if there’s any left, or you just can’t face it on the fourth night, the filling makes a great a empanadilla that can be baked from frozen when unexpected visitors turn up at short notice.Minced beef is the norm but diced chuck, or even shin has more flavour and provides a little texture, even after prolonged cooking.I’ve only visited Mexico once, very briefly, many years ago and I had a lot of mushy beans, vegetable and rice burrito type things, all fairly spicy but not containing a lot of meat. Chilli-con-carne is very much a Tex-Mex thing and in typical fashion, they replaced most of the vegetables and beans with beef. In fact, just north of the border, they took out the beans altogether and called it, simply, ‘red’, probably because of the heat. Apparently, as you travel further north the beans make a reappearance but, for me, there are never enough - nor anywhere near enough vegetables. Onions, tomatoes and carrots are a gimme but there’s plenty of room for red peppers and butternut squash which make it a little more Mexican. The preferred heat level is obviously subjective but a good starting point is frying the onions and carrots in some of our nduja and adding chilli as it cooks. You can always add more but you can’t take it out.

Rainbow Goodwill PieBy Ben WatsonLoosely based on a combination of Anna Jones’s Christmas Goodwill Pie and Dan Lepard’s amazing rough puff pastry with a bit of our nut roast mix thrown in for good measure. OK; as I’m really coming clean, the inspiration for our nut roast comes from Felicity Cloake in the Guardian. Wherever it comes from, the stuffing adds a few Christmas flavours to the mix and makes it a bit more celebratory.

Pumpkin (squash) TirshyBy Ben WatsonThis Moroccan style dip traditionally calls for pumpkins - but we know they really mean butternut squash! In Ben's version, he's toned down the spices to allow the combination of sweet squash and sour preserved lemons to really sing. The original recipe suggests serving with olives and feta cheese but we think it really works with dukkah and olive oil.

Spicy Squash & Apple ChutneyBy Ben WatsonIf you ordered from us at Christmas, hopefully you will have already enjoyed our 'Happy Christmas Chutney' . Born out of an abundance of butternut squash from the veg farm, we thought it was pretty good. So good in fact, that it can be enjoyed year round, so we've renamed it Spicy Squash and Apple Chutney. The squashes are still around for a good month or so, so why not give your own version a try?

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