LUNCH RECIPES

Pages 62 to 71

Spiced pear bellinis Serves 6

This delicately spiced cocktail is so easy, yet so elegant. To make an alcohol-free version, use chilled sparkling lemonade in place of Prosecco.

200ml cloudy pear juice, chilled 50ml ginger cordial

Large pinch of ground allspice Large pinch of ground cinnamon 1 red pear

½ lemon

750ml Prosecco, chilled

Combine the pear juice, ginger cordial, allspice and cinnamon and chill until ready to serve.

To serve, thinly slice the pear and squeeze over a little lemon juice to prevent discolouring. Pour the pear juice into six champagne coupes or flutes. Top up with Prosecco, pare strips of zest from the lemon and add along with a couple of pear slices.

Jerusalem artichoke crostini Serves 6

These fresh and vibrant little appetisers are simple to make, so don’t be put off by the long recipe. If you have leftover purée, serve it as a dip with crudités or keep it covered in the fridge to stir into pasta another day. Juice of 2 lemons

600g Jerusalem artichokes

Salt and ground black pepper 6 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

1 long thin baguette, sliced into rounds

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

Micro herbs or snipped chives, to serve

For the spiced seeds

2 tbsp black and/or white sesame seeds

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds and/or sunflower seeds

Large pinch of chilli flakes

¼ tsp cumin seeds, roughly crushed

¼ tsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed

2 sprigs lemon thyme, leaves only

Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Jerusalem artichokes tend to discolour quickly, so keep them in lemon water from the moment they are sliced. Fill a large bowl with cold water and the juice of 1 lemon. Working with one at a time, peel then slice the artichokes, adding the slices to the water immediately.

When the artichokes are sliced, drain well and transfer to a large roasting tin. Season with salt then drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and squeeze over the juice of ½ a lemon. Roast on the middle shelf of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until tender.

Lay the baguette slices on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Cook on the top shelf of the oven (while the artichokes roast below) for 10-12 minutes, until golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Transfer the hot artichokes to a food processor. Add the garlic and the juice of ½ a lemon and blend until almost smooth. With the motor running, gradually add 4 tablespoons olive oil and blend to a smooth, creamy consistency. Taste and season with salt and black pepper, and add a little more lemon juice if needed.

To make the spiced seeds, toast all the ingredients in a roasting tin in the oven for 5 minutes, or until golden. Add a good pinch of salt and set aside to cool.

Assemble the crostini just before serving. Spread the toasts with Jerusalem artichoke purée, top with the spiced seeds and fresh herbs, and drizzle over a little olive oil if liked.

Scallops with fennel, apple, bacon & brown butter dressing Serves 6

Brown butter is having a revival. Here, its rich nutty flavour is the perfect partner for the sweet scallops and fresh crisp salad. For the dressing

30g unsalted butter

1 shallot, peeled and quartered Juice of ½ lemon

2 tsp maple syrup

2 tbsp walnut oil

Salt and ground black pepper For the scallops

2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced into wedges, fronds reserved 1 dessert apple, thinly sliced into wedges

Juice of ½ lemon

6 rashers streaky bacon

12 large scallops, preferably hand-dived Queen scallops Olive oil, to drizzle

For the dressing, melt the butter in a small pan, add the shallot and cook over a low heat, stirring, for 8-10 minutes, until the butter is a rich biscuit colour. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and leave to cool. Strain into a bowl then stir in the syrup and oil. Season.

Put the fennel and apple in a bowl. Stir through the lemon juice to prevent discolouring, then toss with 3 tablespoons of dressing.

Grill the bacon rashers until crisp, then break into pieces and toss with the fennel and apple salad. While the bacon is grilling, pat the scallops dry, drizzle both sides with olive oil and season.

Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and cook the scallops for 1 minute on each side, until deep golden. When they are almost done, add the remaining dressing to the pan and swirl the scallops around, then remove from the heat.

Serve two scallops per person, with the pan juices drizzled on top and the salad on the side. Garnish with the reserved fennel fronds.

roast duck legs with mustard potatoes Serves 6

This impressive roast of duck and crispy golden potatoes demands surprisingly little of the chef.

2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp pink peppercorns 3 rosemary sprigs, leaves only 2 tbsp caster sugar

8 duck legs

1.5kg new potatoes

8 bay leaves, plus extra to garnish 10 garlic cloves, unpeeled

Salt and ground black pepper 3 tbsp wholegrain mustard

The night before serving this, pound the salt, peppercorns and rosemary in a pestle and mortar until the peppercorns are roughly ground, then stir in the sugar. Rub all over the duck legs. Cover and chill overnight.

One hour before cooking, remove the duck from the fridge and pat dry with kitchen paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.

Lay the potatoes, bay leaves and garlic in a roasting tin in which the potatoes can fit comfortably in one layer (you may need two tins). Season with salt and pepper. Pat the duck legs dry again, and place in a single layer over the potatoes. Roast for 1 hour.

Remove the trays from the oven and increase the temperature to

220°C, gas mark 7. Lift off the duck legs and set aside. Lightly crush the potatoes in the tin with the back of the spoon, then add the mustard and toss through. Return the duck to the tin and crisp in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with the roasted endive, below.

Roasted green endive with clementines & chestnuts serves 6

Baked endive has a lovely bitterness that cuts through the richness of duck beautifully.

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp Pernod

3 tbsp walnut oil

Salt and ground black pepper 9 green endives, halved lengthways 2 clementines, unpeeled and sliced widthways

60g vacuum-packed chestnuts, roughly chopped

Whisk the olive oil, honey, Pernod and walnut oil in a large bowl to combine. Season, then gently toss through the endives, clementines and chestnuts.

Transfer to a large roasting tin, in which the endives fit in a single layer, cut-side down. Roast at 220°C, gas mark 7, while the duck is crisping, for 20-25 minutes, until golden and just tender. Serve with the duck legs and potatoes.

spelt Risotto with squash, mushrooms & kale pesto serves 6

All the elements of this dish can be prepared in advance. Roast the vegetables before cooking the duck, then keep them in the tin and return to the oven for 5 minutes after the duck comes out. The spelt and pesto can be cooked as early as the day before. Just reheat the spelt, then bring everything together as in the recipe.

30g butter

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

500g pearled spelt

1.2 litres vegetable stock

Salt and ground black pepper 1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into thin slices 200g girolle mushrooms

For the pesto

40g curly kale, tough stems removed

75g pecans

1 garlic clove, peeled

4 tbsp olive oil

35g Parmesan, grated, plus shavings, to serve

Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Heat the butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a heavybased pan over a medium heat. Cook the onion for 7-8 minutes until soft. Add the spelt, stir for 1 minute, then pour in the stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil over a high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 18-20 minutes, until the spelt is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed.

While the spelt cooks put the squash slices in a large roasting tin in a single layer. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, then toss through the mushrooms and roast for another 5 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked through and golden. Set aside.

For the pesto, mix the kale, pecans, garlic and olive oil in a food processor to a rough texture. Stir in the grated Parmesan and season with salt and pepper.

Fold the pesto and one-third of the vegetables through the spelt. Serve the risotto topped with the remaining squash and mushrooms and a scattering of Parmesan shavings.

Bitter chocolate tart serves 8-10

The perfect finish to a festive meal, this luscious, mousse-like tart is best eaten just warm or at room temperature.

Plain flour, for dusting

300g all butter shortcrust pastry 2 large eggs and 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

100 whole milk

225ml double cream

2 tbsp caster sugar

200g dark chocolate (70%)

100g good-quality milk chocolate Large pinch of salt

Cocoa powder, for dusting

Lightly dust the worksurface with flour. Roll out the pastry to a disc, about 3mm thick, and use to line a 23cm tart tin. Trim off excess pastry, prick the base and chill for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180ºc, gas mark 4.

Line the pastry shell with slightly scrunched baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 15 minutes, until crisp and pale golden. Remove the parchment and beans, then brush the pastry with beaten egg and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150°C, gas mark 2.

Meanwhile, heat the milk, cream and sugar in a pan over a gentle heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Just before simmering point, remove from the heat and add the chocolate, broken into pieces. Add the salt and stir gently until the chocolate has melted.

Add the eggs and stir until well incorporated and the mixture looks glossy. Spoon into the pastry shell and bake for 18-20 minutes, until just set. Leave to cool for at least 15 minutes, then dust with cocoa powder to serve.

orange & cardamom ice cream with pistachio praline Brioche crumb serves 10-12 with the chocolate tart or 4-6 on its own

Serve with the chocolate tart for a joyously decadent dessert. Zest and juice of 2 oranges 150g caster sugar

Pinch of salt

2 tsp ground cardamom 500ml double cream

For the crumb

25g butter

150g plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar 50g brioche (1 thick slice)

100g pistachios

Put the zest in a food processor with the sugar, salt and cardamom and blend thoroughly. Add the orange juice and blitz again. Pour this mixture into the double cream and combine thoroughly. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

Either churn the mixture in an ice cream maker, then freeze, or freeze it in a large shallow freezer container, beating every half hour, until almost completely frozen.

For the crumb, preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Melt the butter in a small pan with 2 tablespoons sugar. Tear the brioche into small pieces and stir into the melted butter, until coated. Place on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden and crunchy. Allow to cool, then break into thick crumbs and set aside.

Line a baking tray with nonstick parchment. Put the sugar in a small saucepan over a low heat. As it begins to melt, swirl the pan gently until it has melted and turned a light golden brown. Quickly remove from the heat and stir in the pistachios and a pinch of salt. Tip onto the baking tray and spread out. Leave to cool, then chop finely with a large sharp knife and stir into the brioche crumbs.

Remove the ice cream from the freezer 10 minutes before serving and top with the praline crumb.