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.

Lemon, Garlic, Mint, and Fennel Pollen SpaghettiBy JessThis pasta dish can be as simple or intricate as you prefer. At its core, it celebrates the essence of spaghetti, with fennel pollen as the star ingredient that adds a unique, aromatic flair.

Fennel Pollen MarinadeBy JessAs we all know, wild fennel grows like a weed everywhere it lays its hat. Most gardeners pull it up because it is just that, but once you’ve given pollen a go you’ll be planning a designated fennel patch. Apparently, it keeps the slugs and snails away. Culinary website, Serious Eats says;’ "if angels sprinkled a spice from their wings, this would be it." This is only slight hyperbole. Fennel pollen is an incredibly powerful spice, with notes of liquorice, citrus and handmade marshmallows. It tastes like pure summer joy.’At around £1 per gm (£1000 per kg) it doesn’t come cheap, so picking and drying your own adds to the joy. As usual, I might have left it a bit late because in a normal year, wild fennel starts flowering at the end of June and in its desperation to reproduce, if you keep on picking the flowers it will go on flowering well into August. All you have to do is pick the flowers into a paper bag and leave it next to your boiler or on top of the hot water tank. Come autumn, when it’s dry, pulse in a food processor until the stalks have separated and shake around in a colander so the flower dust falls through. Seal in a jar and you’re good to go.

Creamy GuacamoleBy JessHere's our take on the traditional guacamole. These buttery avocados are mashed into guacamole with fragrant coriander, a hint of chilli spice, and a burst of zesty lime juice. Just a few ingredients are all you need to make the best guacamole, perfect as a side dish or dip.

Taco EsquitesBy Ben WatsonOur take on the classic Mexican street salad but this time in a taco - using sweetcorn, feta, spring onions & sour cream.

Nduja, Ricotta & Onion TartBy Ben WatsonA French onion tart, cooled but still warm out of the oven, is a truly wondrous thing. Hailing, originally, from Alsace, it’s one of the unsung heroes of French regional cooking, sadly forgotten over here until ‘modern British’ chefs, Simon Hopkinson and Rowley Leigh reintroduced us in all its glory. Somewhere between a Quiche Lorraine and Alsatian ‘flammkuchen’ pizza it’s one of those rare beasts that, despite holistic perfection in its original form, is no enemy of the home cook that just can’t leave good things alone. Bacon lardons and various cheeses (Comte, Gruyere, Beaufort etc in particular) are the standard variations and all bring something to the party but the sweetness of the onions also lends itself to all things smoked. The smoked haddock, chicken and bacon/ham theme has been well mined in the Ben’s Farm Shop kitchen, and elsewhere, but our version of Calabrian salami, nduja, is even better. Being made up, primarily, of pork fat, it melts into the onion mix giving an underlying but not overpowering heat without detracting from the sweetness of the onion. The ricotta is a slightly gratuitous, icing on the cake - adding to the onions sweetness and flashed under the grill, it gives an attractive ‘burnt peak’ appearance.As with all pies, you can get to eight out of ten but those last few points depend on the quality of the pastry and you’re only ever going to get those if you make your own. In the BFS kitchen we make tonnes of the stuff and for commercial pastry, it’s pretty good – but because we make it by the hundred weight, it’s always going to be overworked way past the ‘short’ stage. There are whole books out there on the subject so I’m not going to try to reinvent the wheel but whatever route you chose; you’re going to need about 500gms for a 2½cm deep, 28-30 cm tart case.

Cheese TartBy Ben WatsonBest served at room temperature, this savoury cheese tart is ideal for al fresco dining in the summer and served simply with a fresh lightly dressed salad.

Ruth Rae’s Broad Bean and Goats Cheese PâtéBy Ben WatsonEdgy Veggie is a vegetarian and vegan takeaway that took off during lockdown and has since moved in a few doors down from our Totnes shop on the Totnes high street. It's broad bean season and our shops are brimming with them, so we asked owner and chef Ruth Rae to share her favourite broad bean recipe. A perfect dish for spring and summer, this earthy yet tangy and refreshing dish is light but satisfying.

Elizabeth David’s CaponataBy Ben Watson

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.

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.

1 2 3 4 5 6