sea salt
For the sauce:
leaves from 3 sprigs of parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chopped chives
4 basil leaves, torn
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or other mature cheese, such as Twineham Grange or pecorino)
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted in a dry frying pan until golden
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Heat the oil in a pan, add the spring onions and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, until soft and translucent but not browned. Add the sprouts, lentils and stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 minute and then remove from the heat. Taste and add salt if necessary.
Mix the sauce ingredients together, breaking up the pine nuts as much as possible with the back of a wooden spoon. Spoon the sauce over the soup once it is ladled into bowls.
Baked Beans with Bacon, Molasses and Tomato
The nation’s favourite canned meal was once a pottage, which was exported to the Americas by early settlers and became Boston baked beans – a dish of salt pork and haricot beans sweetened with molasses (but not tomatoes, which I have added here to keep up with modern tradition). An earthenware pot or cast-iron casserole with a well-fitting lid prevents the beans and sauce drying out during cooking. Try to find good bacon – dry-cured from naturally reared pork will let a gentle meaty flavour seep into the beans.
Serves 4
175g/6oz white haricot or navy beans
4 tablespoons cold-pressed sunflower oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
2 thick slices of green (unsmoked) back bacon
1 onion, finely chopped or grated
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
200ml/7fl oz passata (puréed tomatoes)
1 dessertspoon molasses
1 tablespoon English mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
sea salt
Soak the beans in plenty of water overnight or for 24 hours, then drain.
Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2. Heat the oil in a casserole and add the bacon, onion and garlic. Cook over a medium heat until soft. Add the beans, then the passata, plus enough water to cover the beans by 3cm/1¼ inches. Add the molasses and bring up to a simmer. Cover, place in the oven and bake for about 3 hours, until the beans are tender. You may need to add more water to prevent them drying out. About half an hour before you eat, add the mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Finally, add a little salt to bring out the flavour of the beans. Eat with fried eggs or any type of hot sausage, including black pudding.
The suet in this dish is optional but it does give it an amazing flavour. This is a good braise to eat with polenta or wild rice. Alternatively, serve with boiled long grain rice, or sourdough bread that has been brushed with oil and toasted.
Serves 6
225g/8oz pinto or Mexican black beans
1 tablespoon beef dripping or extra virgin olive oil
1kg/2¼lb venison, cut into
1cm/½ inch cubes
2 heaped tablespoons grated beef suet (optional)
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 chipotle chillies, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, then deseeded and chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½–1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)
½ teaspoon ground cloves
600ml/1 pint beef stock – plus more to make it soupy, if necessary (see here)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Soak the beans in plenty of water overnight or for 24 hours. The next day, drain the beans and put them in a pan. Cover with fresh water, bring to the boil and simmer for 1–1½ hours, until tender. Drain and set aside.
Heat the dripping or oil in a large casserole (preferably cast iron) and brown the meat well over a reasonably high heat. Lower the heat, then add the suet, if using, plus the onions, garlic, chillies and spices and cook for 2–3 minutes. Cover with the stock and simmer with the lid partly on for approximately 1 hour, until the meat is tender. Add the beans and cook over a very low heat for 15 minutes. Skim off any fat that floats on the surface. Taste for seasoning and serve.
White Bean Broth with Buttered Tomato and Lettuce
White beans make textured soups that keep their elegance. They are the favourite bean of Italian cooks for this purpose. They have a mild, slightly floury taste and texture that absorbs the flavours of other ingredients.
Use cannellini beans or white haricots for this soup. Haricots are usually only available dried; they are a round bean, staying firm and smooth even after a long simmer in the pan. Cannellini are kidney shaped and can become quite soft. They are the better choice for busy cooks, since canned ones are easily available. The best lettuce to use is Cos, sometimes called Romano, or the heart of any other large-leaf lettuce.
Serves 4
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 white or red onion, finely chopped
1 celery stick and leaves, chopped
1 small fennel bulb and leaves, chopped
1–2 pinches of dried oregano
2 cans (about 470g drained weight) of white cannellini beans, drained – or use 200g/7oz dried haricot beans, soaked in cold water overnight, then simmered in fresh water for 1–1½ hours, until tender
1.2 litres/2 pints vegetable or meat stock (see here, here and here)
sea salt
To serve:
55g/2oz butter
1 garlic clove, chopped
4 small Cos hearts, cut into quarters, or the hearts of 2 larger lettuces, roughly chopped (use the outer leaves for salad)
4 plum tomatoes, skinned and diced
4 tablespoons grated Twineham Grange cheese (English Parmesan), or a hard ewe’s milk cheese such as Lord of the Hundreds or Somerset Rambler – or real Italian Parmesan
a small handful of basil leaves
a little extra virgin olive oil
Heat the oil in a large pan and add the garlic, onion, celery, fennel and oregano. Cook over a low heat for about 2 minutes until their edges begin to soften. Add the beans and stock and bring to the boil. Cook for about 5 minutes, then taste for salt.
Melt the butter in a separate pan,