Beetroot, orange, fennel and date salad

ground cumin; brown sugar;

honey

oranges pitted dates mint leaves cinnamon; oranges; chilli flakes

Whisk together 2 tsp ground 1 tsp juice of 2 2 tsp ½ tsp 1 T runny (There is no oil in this dressing).

Now drizzle some of the dressing over 4 finely sliced cooked in a smaller bowl to coat them. Layer the marinated beetroot, 1 finely sliced the segments of 3 and a handful of chopped on a suitable platter. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the vegetables and oranges as you layer. Tear some and scatter inbetween the layers as you go. Finish with a scattering of dates and mint to garnish.

beetroots fennel bulb,

and

1

Place the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. With the motor running, add the egg yolk and water, and process until the mixture comes together and forms a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, flatten the pastry into a disc shape, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a standing mixer, beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in the egg and almond essence. Stir in the almonds and the flour. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Line the muffin tins with crosses of baking paper strips. This cunning ploy will allow you to remove the tartlets painlessly. Using your fingers, make little tart bases in the muffin tins by lining each one with about 1½ T of the pastry. You don’t want your base to be too thick. The cases should have the free-form appearance of a homemade pastry case! Prick the pastry in each case with a fork, and spread about 1½ teaspoons of fruit mince into each tart shell. Then spread 2 tsp of almond paste on top of the fruit mince. Finish with a generous sprinkling of the flaked almonds. Bake at 180ºC for 20–25 minutes; they should be slightly browned on top. Leave to cool before dusting with icing sugar.

2 Make the frangipane 3

The Shepherd’s salad, which I adapted from a book of Turkish recipes,