Gooseberry and green chilli chutney
Linguine with wild garlic pesto
WHY is it that linguine feels so much more luxurious than spaghetti?
I like the way that pesto coats the long strands but you could as easily make this with fusilli or even gnocchi.
The ingredient quantities are a guide. Make to suit your own palate. The pesto will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
INGREDIENTS (MAKES ONE SMALL JAR)
l 30g wild garlic l 45g Bonnet (or pecorino) l 30g walnuts l 20g mild olive oil
Chop the cheese into manageable chunks then place in a small food processor with the other ingredients.
Blitz into a rough paste, taste and correct each ingredient to your liking.
If you cannot find wild garlic to forage, you may be able to buy it in specialist shops. Add a tablespoon of crème fraiche to make a slightly creamier sauce.
Serve with linguine or your choice of pasta.
Hairst bree
MEANING ‘harvest soup’, this classic Scottish dish is the freshest thing you’ll try all summer. It’s bursting with flavour from all the new seasonal vegetables.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4-6)
l 1 lamb shank l 2 bay leaves l 1 small bunch parsley, plus a little more chopped for garnish l 1½ tsp salt l 1 small new season turnip (swede if outside Scotland), diced
l 4-6 small new season onions, roughly chopped
l 4-6 small carrots, chopped
l 10-12 broad bean pods, shelled and skinned
l 10-12 pea pods shelled (or two handfuls frozen) 2 good handfuls lettuce, shredded (little gem, oak leaf or similar bright green leafy variety)
In a large pot, cover the lamb shank with two litres of water. Add the salt, bay leaves and parsley, and cover.
Bring to the boil over a medium heat then simmer for two to two-and-ahalf hours until the meat is ready to fall off the bone.
Remove the meat from the pot and set aside. Add in the onions and turnip, bring to the boil again, then simmer for ten minutes;
Add the carrots and simmer for a further ten minutes, then add the peas, broad beans and lettuce. Warm through for a further three minutes.
Meanwhile, discard the skin and bone from the lamb and chop the meat roughly. Add into the soup, taste for seasoning, then stir through the chopped parsley and serve.
Spring vegetable soup
IT might seem bizarre to try to recreate a packet soup but this holds special memories of weekends with my grandmother, who would make us spring vegetable soup from a packet when she got older. This recipe is my homage to her.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 2-3)
½ leek, finely chopped 1 carrot, finely chopped Knob butter ¼ Savoy cabbage, finely chopped 6 asparagus, roughly chopped 500ml chicken stock 2 syboes, finely chopped
Sauté the leek and carrot in butter for two minutes, then add the cabbage and stock and simmer for ten minutes. Add the asparagus and simmer for a further two minutes, then add the syboes as a garnish and serve.
Witch sole with wild garlic
WHEN I first tried grey, or witch, sole it was a revelation. The fish is smaller and more delicate than its more celebrated relations, lemon and Dover sole, and boasts a beautiful taste. I protect and flavour the flesh with seasonal, robust green leaves.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 2)
2 witch sole fillets 12-14 wild garlic leaves Handful wild garlic flowers (optional)
Heat the oven to 180C (350F, gas mark 4). On a baking tray, lay out half of the wild garlic leaves and then place the fish on top. Cover with the remaining leaves and bake for ten minutes until the fish is cooked though.
Discard the cooking leaves and serve the sole with a garnish of wild garlic flowers and a small drizzle of oil.
Gooseberry and green chilli chutney
GOOSEBERRIES are always the poor relation when I go fruit-picking – the children are not very keen on the cuts associated with the thorns, or the tart acidity of the berry.
But it is this very quality that lends itself to chutney. Choose the amount of chilli to your preferred taste, remembering that it will get hotter after storing.
INGREDIENTS (MAKES 2 SMALL JARS)
300g gooseberries One onion, finely chopped
125g granulated sugar
80ml white wine vinegar
50ml water
2 green chillies (chopped)
1in cinnamon stick
Cook the onion, gooseberries and chilli in the water and vinegar with the cinnamon until the gooseberries have softened.
Remove the cinnamon and add in the sugar. Stir until dissolved and then cook until thickened, still stirring occasionally. Pour into sterilised jars and seal. Keep for four weeks to let the flavours develop before using.
Tomato and sorrel soup
A FRIEND of mine describes sorrel as ‘Scottish lemongrass’, and while I wouldn’t quite go that far, its mouthwatering acidity does lend itself well to a refreshing summer soup.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 3-4)
300g tomatoes, roughly chopped 1 onion, chopped 1 handful sorrel 500ml stock, chicken or vegetable
Olive oil
In a saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat and sweat the garlic until softened. Add the tomatoes and cook for three to five minutes until they have reduced. Next, add the stock and cook for ten minutes.
Add the sorrel and cook for one minute. Blitz in a food processor or with a hand blender. Serve with crème fraiche if you prefer a creamier soup.
Berries with spiced yoghurt
THIS makes a tasty, healthy breakfast and is a perfect way to celebrate Scottish summer. It also doubles as a delicious dessert if you have leftovers.
Scottish berries are pepped up with spice and drizzled with honeyed goat’s yoghurt. You can use Greek yoghurt as an alternative.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 3-4)
200g goat’s milk yoghurt 1 pinch saffron, infused in 1 tbsp hot water 1 tsp heather honey 600g mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, brambles, tayberries, blaeberries) 1 tsp icing sugar 1 green chilli, chopped finely (deseeded if desired) ½ tsp black peppercorns, crushed 8-10 mint leaves, chopped finely ½ lemon Infuse the saffron in the hot water then add this to the yoghurt. Add the honey and gently combine. Hull and chop the strawberries then mix with the other berries. Sprinkle the sugar, then add green chilli, crushed pepper and chopped mint. Toss with the juice of the lemon and leave to allow the juices to meld. Chill for 30 minutes and toss before serving with chilled saffron yoghurt.
Cranachan panna cotta I OFTEN make cranachan, that most celebrated of Scottish desserts.
This panna cotta is a slightly different interpretation of the classic, flavourful marriage of whisky, honey and raspberry.
The oatmeal is almost imperceptible as a garnish but the flavour stands out. INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4) 250ml whole milk 250ml cream 30g caster sugar 3 leaves gelatine 2 tbsp Scottish blossom or heather honey
20ml whisky (I use Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve but use any unpeated whisky) 1 tbsp medium oatmeal 100g raspberries
Soak the gelatine leaves in water to soften, then squeeze them out.
In a saucepan, put the cream, honey and sugar. Heat over a low heat and keep stirring until all the elements have dissolved.
Pour the mixture into a large jug that is capable of holding all of the ingredients. Add the milk and whisky and stir to combine.
Next, leave to cool a little, then stir again and pour into either panna cotta moulds if you want to tip the dessert out, or whisky glasses for something a little different. Place in the fridge to set.
Meanwhile, toast the oatmeal over a low heat, being careful not to burn it. Serve the chilled and set panna cotta with a few raspberries and the oatmeal sprinkled on top. Asparagus and lemon risotto NO vegetable defines spring quite like asparagus. Its short season is eagerly awaited as the winter chill dies away before it departs in the summer heat as quickly as it arrived.
Break at the woody stalk and cook briefly to keep maximum crunch. INGREDIENTS (SERVES 2) 1 onion 1 clove garlic 150g risotto rice (preferably vialone nano) Small glass white wine 400ml vegetable stock 200g asparagus tips, sliced Juice of half a lemon, plus zest Handful coriander leaves, chopped
Shaved parmesan or pecorino to garnish
Knob butter and splash olive oil for frying
Salt and pepper to season
In a heavy-based sauté pan, sweat the onion and garlic in the oil and butter until softened. Do not brown.
Add the rice and stir to cover it with the oil. Cook over a low heat for three to five minutes, stirring often and being careful not to burn.
Turn the heat up to medium and add the wine, stirring rapidly until it all evaporates.
Add the stock a ladle at a time, stirring until each is evaporated before adding the next. Continue adding the stock for 12 minutes.
Add in the asparagus tips and continue to cook, adding the stock a ladle at a time until al dente and the asparagus tips retain their crunch.
Remove from the heat and add in the lemon juice, zest and chopped coriander.
Stir, correct for seasoning and serve topped with the shaved cheese. Strawberry and mint cordial ONE of my lasting memories of childhood summer holidays is being allowed Quosh strawberry cordial.
The bright red liquid packed with syrupy sweetness signalled the start of two weeks of fun somewhere in the Highlands. Here’s my homemade take on this favourite drink. INGREDIENTS (MAKES AROUND 300ML) 500g strawberries, quartered 10-12 mint leaves 100g granulated sugar
In a large saucepan, place the strawberries, six to eight of the mint leaves and a splash of water.
Heat over a low to medium heat for ten to 15 minutes, stirring occasion- ally, until the strawberries have given up all their juice. Add the rest of the mint then leave to stand and infuse for ten to 15 minutes.
Strain into a jug, measuring the liquid. If you want clear cordial do this through a muslin. I use a sieve as I don’t want to lose any of the juice.
Pour back into the pan and add the sugar – a gram for every three millilitres of liquid. Heat the juice until the sugar has dissolved. Pour into a sterilised bottle and seal, then store in the fridge. Dilute to taste.
I also like to add a couple of tablespoons to natural yoghurt and serve with nuts and seeds for breakfast.