Latest news with #springgreens
The Guardian
21-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Meera Sodha's recipe for spring greens and cheddar picnic focaccia
Last month, while on a book tour in New York, I ate a sandwich that moved me to utter profanities. It was unusual behaviour from me, and more so because the sandwich in question was packed with an excessive amount of spring greens, but then, that is the genius of Brooks Headley, chef/owner of Superiority Burger: like Midas, he has an ability to turn the ordinary into gold. Here, I've tried to recreate it by cooking down a kilo of spring greens until they are melting, soft, collapsed and buttery, before tossing them with sharp cheddar. It's pure picnic gold. You don't have to have this on a picnic, but it really does work well, plus you can make the greens in advance and refrigerate them, provided you give them time to come up to room temperature afterwards. Buy the best focaccia you can find, or make your own – I make a 20cm x 30cm one like this (minus the garlic). Prep 10 minCook 30 minServes 6 1kg baby spring greens 80g unsalted dairy butter 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 tsp fine sea salt 100g mature cheddar, grated – I like TicklerFocaccia, to serve (homemade or bought in) Wash the greens, shake off the excess water, then cut off the ends and compost them or save for soup – as a general guide, I cut away any stalks that are thicker than the base of my little finger. Shred the leaves into 3cm- to 4cm-wide strips. Put half the butter and half the oil in each of two large, deep frying pans and put them on a medium heat. When the butter has melted and started to foam, distribute the leaves and salt between the two pans and cook, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 minutes, until the greens have given up all hope of freshness and turned forest-black, glossy and soft. Tip all the leaves into one of the pans, toss through the grated cheese, then take off the heat. Slice open the focaccia horizontally, then evenly pile the greens on the bottom half. Slap the lid on top and compress. If you like a bit of theatre, tightly wrap the focaccia in foil, pop it in a bread tin and pack with a large bread knife; once on location, turn out and slice with panache. Or, more sensibly, slice into portions before you leave and wrap individually.
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Layer up: spring fillings for filo pies
Filo pies are my go-to for entertaining, but what are the best spring fillings? The wonderful thing about filo pies and tarts is that they look fancy even when they're knocked up from just a handful of ingredients, they require little more than a green salad to please and, much like the rest of us, they really do benefit from some downtime. 'They're even better at room temperature because the flavour evolves,' says Rosie Kellett, author of In for Dinner, which also makes them perfect for dodging any last-minute entertaining scrambles. Kellett likes to wrap as many spring greens as possible in filo, along with cheese and hot honey butter. 'The key to getting a really delicious filo tart or pie is a flavoured butter,' she says, so, rather than simply painting melted butter between every filo sheet so it goes nice and crisp in the oven, she also adds honey and harissa. (In a similar vein, if your pie or tart involves mushrooms, take your lead from Feast columnist Georgina Hayden, who uses butter flavoured with thyme and Marmite.) But back to Kellett's pie. 'Wilt the greens, squeeze out any moisture, then fold in crumbled feta, a couple of eggs and season really well.' You could also throw in some caramelised onions. 'Put a couple of layers of filo painted with hot honey butter in an ovenproof dish [greased with more honey butter], add a third of the filling, then repeat with more filo and filling.' Finish with more filo, then sprinkle over a crisp, seedy topper (think everything bagel mix, or a mix of nigella, sesame and fennel seeds). 'Bake until golden brown, crisp and bubbling up at the edges,' Kellett says, and that's going to be a lot easier in the making and eating than a quiche: 'For a picnic lunch, a filo pie is easily top of the list.' And, for something alongside, try tabbouleh studded with lots of fresh dill, parsley and coriander or, once summer proper hits, a tomato, pickled shallot and herb salad. If you have plenty of herbs to hand, meanwhile, plump for this goat's cheese, artichoke and hazelnut number by the Guardian's Rukmini Iyer – one of her 'favourite recipes for the column so far'. Blitz 30g flat-leaf parsley (stems and all), 20g mint, 20g basil, 15g chives and 50g chopped hazelnuts until smooth, then pour into a round pie dish lined with filo sheets that you've brushed with the oil from a jar of artichokes. Top with the artichokes themselves and teaspoonfuls of soft goat's cheese dotted around and about, then scatter with more chopped hazelnuts and bake at 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 for 25 minutes. For other cheesy greens, give peas a go: 'Minted garden peas with grated lemon zest, whipped or baked ricotta, lots of herbs and spring onions is a really nice spring combo,' Kellett says, especially if you char the spring onions over an open flame first. 'They'll be silky, soft and sweet, and you can squidge them into the tart.' Chantelle Nicholson, who is behind Baked by Cordia, a microbakery and garden cafe in West Sussex, would also go for peas, paired with ricotta and mint, but she'd crush them, alongside some broad beans, too, 'for texture' and throw in some onion seeds. Finally, there's asparagus, and here Nicholson would be minded to combine the spears with parsley or dill in a bechamel base, and perhaps some caramelised onions, too, because, well, 'You can't ever really go wrong with those'. Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@
