Gather book extract
Celebrating the first cookbook from UK River Cottage head chef Gill Meller
These two delicious autumnal recipes: a celeriac, kale and cobnut (that’s hazelnut to us in this part of the world) soup and a simple but strikingly good fried pear and roasted red onion salad strewn with crisped puy lentils come from Gill’s much-acclaimed Gather which features 120 seasonal, landscape-driven recipes.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s right hand man needs no introduction for River Cottage’s many fans — he has been with the team for the past 11 years, appearing regularly on the UK TV shows and teaching at the Devon/Dorset-based cookery school. Now Gill is on his way here — next month launching the cookbook and wowing a very lucky few over a special weekend. Set at The Farm at Cape Kidnappers in Hawke’s Bay, from June 2-4, the weekend features an informal fireside reading of the book with Gill over a glass of wine (nice), a cooking class where Gill will prepares some of his favourite dishes from the book and then, in the evening, a five-course gourmet tasting menu based on recipes from the book, matched to Alpha Domus wines.
If you have a special birthday or anniversary coming up we suggest leaving this page open somewhere prominent. For more, capekidnappers.com
Fried pears with roast red onions and crisped puy lentils
This colourful, early autumn salad is so easy. Sometimes all you need to make a lovely supper are three wellmatched ingredients. Choose ripe pears, but not overripe, as you want them to fry in the hot pan without breaking up too much. My obsession with crispy lentils began at River Cottage, and I’m loving them lots right now. We must love them together, because they are just outrageously good, and here lend real crunch. Serves 4–6 100g puy lentils, rinsed 2 red onions, each cut into
8 wedges 4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 2 ripe pears 1 knob butter Juice ½ lemon Salt and freshly ground
black pepper 1 Heat the oven to 180C. Put the rinsed lentils in a medium pan, cover with water and set over a high heat. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 18–25 minutes, until the lentils have softened but retain some bite. Drain them, then leave them in the colander and allow the steam to evaporate. 2 Meanwhile, place the onion wedges in a roasting tray with 2 Tbsp of the olive oil, toss to coat, and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Roast the onion in the oven for 25–30 minutes, or until the wedges are soft and starting to colour. Remove from the oven and set aside. 3 Slice each pear into quarters, remove the cores, then cut each quarter in half again, giving 16 wedges of pear altogether. Heat the butter and 1 Tbsp of the remaining oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. When the butter and oil mixture is bubbling, add the pear slices to the pan. Fry them gently for 3–5 minutes on each side, or until they have taken on a little colour. Remove the pear wedges from the pan and keep them warm. 4 Leaving the frying pan on the hob, increase the heat to medium-high. Add the remaining oil, followed by the cooked lentils. Season with a little salt and pepper, and fry, tossing regularly, for 15–20 minutes, or until the lentils are crisped. 5 Arrange the warm roast onions and pears on a large serving platter. Scatter over the lentils, drizzle over the lemon juice, and bring to the table straight away. Cobnut (hazelnut) and celeriac soup with kale, parsley and olive oil Cobnuts (hazelnuts) bring an unexpected dimension to this gorgeous soup. They’re fresh and fleshy and their flavour, being delicate and sweet, works beautifully with robust kale and earthy celeriac. If you’re making your own stock, make sure it’s really tasty before you add it to the rest of the soup ingredients. That way you’re guaranteed the most amazing results. I like to slip in some toasted sourdough or other good country-style bread to the bowls before bringing to the table. Serves 4 4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil,
plus extra for drizzling 400g celeriac, peeled and
cut into 2cm cubes 1 onion, finely diced 3 or 4 thyme sprigs 50g shelled cobnuts (hazelnuts), roughly chopped 2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated, plus an extra clove, halved, for rubbing 4–6 sage leaves, torn 1 litre good-quality, chicken
or vegetable stock 1 small bunch Tuscan (cavolo nero) or curly kale (about 75g), tough stem removed, leaves roughly chopped 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley,
finely chopped Salt and freshly ground
black pepper Toasted or chargrilled
bread, for serving 1 Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the celeriac, diced onion and thyme sprigs. Cook, stirring regularly, for 5–6 minutes, until the onion is soft but not coloured, then season the celeriac with salt and pepper. Scatter over the chopped nuts, grated garlic, and the torn sage leaves and stir well. Cook for 1–2 minutes more, then add the stock and bring the contents of the pan up to a simmer. 2 Cook gently for 8–10 minutes until the celeriac is tender, then add the chopped kale and return to a simmer. Cook for a further 10 minutes, until the kale is tender, then remove the soup from the heat. Add the chopped parsley to the pan, then season well with salt and pepper. 3 Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with some toasted or chargrilled bread rubbed with a halved garlic clove and sprinkled with flaky salt, then drizzled with your best olive oil.