Each season brings its excitement and pleasures in the kitchen; spring starts with scarcity (the Hungry Gap), then follows with abundance and variety, and what we call the ‘Veg New Year’. Each year, by the time we reach June and July, a new crop is starting every week.
After the last month or two of relying on our French farm and other trusted growers overseas to help us fill boxes and offer variety, our boxes are now bursting with homegrown greenery.
Now’s the time to really embrace a life on the veg and celebrate the wealth of colourful, flavoursome veg, fruit and salad our fields and polytunnels have to offer. Here are 5 recipes to bring the best of the season to life.
SLOW ROASTED TOMATO TARTE TATIN
This is an intensely flavourful tart, redolent of summer. Although the tomatoes take a while to cook, they require little attention and the result is sublimely delicious. Eat for lunch or dinner with a crisp green salad or lightly blanched green beans.
See the full tomato tarte tatin recipe here.
SUMMER HAM HOCK HASH WITH CUCUMBER PICKLES
This hash is a tick-list of the summer season. We have included some wet garlic which is, essentially, just young garlic, picked before the cloves fully form. It looks like an oversized spring onion or an undersized leek and only needs a very light cook to mellow any raw pungency. If you are an allium aficionado, you could even add it raw and finely sliced. The cucumbers, quickly pickled, make an ideal condiment to the salty ham hock.
See full summer ham hock hash with cucumber pickles recipe.
COURGETTE, FENNEL AND KOHLRABI SALAD
This fresh, summer salad uses crunchy raw courgettes, fennel and kohlrabi, paired with citrus and spices. The fennel seeds accentuate the fennel bulb’s natural flavour, while the caraway is a good match for the brassica flavour of the kohlrabi. If you don’t have all the spices just use those which you do.
See full courgette, fennel and kohlrabi salad recipe.
BROAD BEAN FRITTERS
These simple fritters make a good vegetarian main course but you could also serve smaller ones as starters or canapés for a summer party (they can be made in advance and gently warmed through in a low oven). Kids generally love them, particularly the dinky-sized ones.
See full broad bean fritters recipe.
TOMATO AND WHITE BEAN PANZANELLA
At its simplest, a traditional Italian panzanella is a way of turning stale bread into salad by mixing it with tomatoes, vinegar and oil. We’re aping stale bread by drying it in the oven for a while. The tomatoes and oil soak into the bread and revive it. Any extra ingredients are open for debate; try mini cucumbers, broad beans, peppers and whatever else takes your fancy.
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