Gnocchi with Wild Garlic and Cream Sauce

If you’re quick you may just get to the last of the wild garlic in a shady spot.  The distinctive smell should guide you!

This is a quick easy supper that takes advantage of the wild food available for such a short season. Although, I admit, I grow some ‘wild’ garlic in a container in my garden for convenience and I always find gnocchi very satisfying after a long day in the garden!

Serves 2

1 pack gnocchi (I use giant gnocchi here but regular ones work just as well)
200ml double cream
2 tbsp green pesto
a good handful of wild garlic leaves, washed and slices into ribbons
4 tbsp* freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano *at least

• Cook the gnocchi according to the packet instructions.
• Gently heat the cream and pesto in a small saucepan.  Do not allow it to boil.
• Add the garlic leaves and Parmigiano Reggiano and make sure it’s piping hot through.
• Pour the sauce over the gnocchi in bowls.
• Excellent with some crusty bread and a crisp Riesling after a long day in the garden!

 

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Rhubarb and Orange Frangipane Tart

The last of the home grown rhubarb is coming this month, after that you need to let the plants rest and regroup.  So I whipped up this Rhubarb and Orange Frangipane Tart to make the most of it while it’s still with us!

The later season rhubarb isn’t as vibrantly coloured as the younger forced rhubarb you get at the beginning of the year, if you made it with that then this would really be a pink showstopper!  However, the regimented rows of rhubarb are very pleasing to me and the taste is amazing!

The natural tartness of the rhubarb and the sweetness of the orange frangipane go together so well and make a wonderfully refreshing tart that’s full of flavour.

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Makes 1 rectangular tart

One sheet ready rolled sweet shortcrust pastry (or make your own but I was short on time!)
~4 sticks rhubarb
85g butter, softened
85g caster sugar
1 egg
85g ground almonds
zest of one large orange, finely grated
1 tbsp caster sugar

• Heat the oven to gas mark 7 and grease your loose bottomed rectangular tart tin well.
• Shape and roll the pastry to fit (I had to trim a bit off the sides to make an extension, the scraps then went for jam tarts!)
• Press the pastry into the tin carefully, leaving a small overhang around the edge.
• Slice your rhubarb into batons the width of the inside of the pastry shell.
• In a small mixing bowl combine the butter, sugar, egg, ground almonds and orange zest and beat until well combined and smooth.
• Scrape the frangipane mixture into the pastry.
• Place the rhubarb on top of the frangipane evenly.
• Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tbsp sugar.
• Bake for 30 minutes until the top of the frangipane is golden brown and the pastry an even colour.
• Remove from the oven and trim away the excess pastry from the edges with a sharp knife.
• Leave to cool completely in the tin then carefully unmould.
• Serve with fresh clotted cream for a delightful afternoon treat!

NB – if making in the round tart tin double the frangipane mixture.

 

 

Farmhouse Butter Biscuits

A lovely simple biscuit, quick and easy to work with and it gives a delightfully crisp buttery biscuit.  Nothing fancy at all, as simple and wholesome as a biscuit can get! These biscuits remind me of some I had as a child at a farmhouse on the way to the lake district. There were no such things as hygiene certificates then, this was literally the farmer’s wife selling tea and biscuits in her kitchen and they were some of the best I’ve ever had!

Makes 18 biscuits

125g butter, softened
70g golden caster sugar (Plus a few tsp extra for sprinkling)
1 egg yolk
160g plain flour
small pinch of salt

• Heat the oven to gas mark 5 and prepare two baking trays with baking paper.
• Cream together the butter and the sugar in a small mixing bowl.
• Add the egg yolk and beat well to combine.
• Add the flour and the salt (if your flour is at all lumpy do sift it in as it will mix easier).
• Bring all the ingredients together into a soft dough.  It can help to use your hand to get it all together in the last bit.
• Pinch off small walnut sized balls of dough and roll them in your palms to shape into rounds.
• Place on the baking tray and use the heel of your palm to squish them flat.
• Sprinkle the tops with the extra sugar.
• Bake for 10 minutes until the edges are just starting to colour.
• Remove from the oven and allow to sit on the tray for 5 minutes before trying to move them as they will break otherwise.
• Allow to cook on a wire rack.
• Put on a pot of tea and enjoy!

Allotment: Seven Weeks In

I can’t believe I’ve only had my allotment for seven weeks!  I am staggered by how much I’ve achieved already.  In fact, almost every spot of earth is full right now!

To have gone from this patch of bare earth to a productive plot in that time just goes to show what you can achieve when you put your mind to it (and an awful lot of elbow grease too!)

I’m trying out all sorts of things, fruits, vegetables, salads, flowers, it’s all going on!  I should be able to actually eat something within the next week, all I’ve had so far was a radish the size of a five pence piece when I was thinning them out!

I got a little carried away with my shed, but it’s a lovely space, Darcy has a little bed in there so he can hang out and supervise and I put tiles down on the floor so it’s always cool for him.  I’ve got everything I need, when I eventually get the chickens I’m planning on having fresh eggs for breakfast here every day.

I even had a go at building my own greenhouse, they didn’t make one in the size I wanted so I cobbled one together with my ever developing DIY skills!  It’ll do the job for now, anyway!

Stay tuned for some recipes using the produce I manage to grow, I’ve gone for loads of radishes as they’re so quick to grow so 101 things to do with a radish may have to start soon! Oh and if you have any hints and tips for how to fight back against the slugs with a small curious dog running around do let me know!