by Pam Corbin
Salt to taste
Purists say that pesto should be made by pounding the ingredients together using a pestle and mortar. For this recipe, you can certainly do that, starting by crushing the mint leaves, garlic, nasturtium seeds and nuts, then adding the cheese, followed by the lemon juice and oil. Pound until well blended, folding in the marigold petals and salt at the very end.
Then again, you can do as I do and simply whiz everything (except the marigold petals and salt) in a food processor for a couple of minutes until you have a soft, well-blended mixture. Remove from the processor, and fold in the petals and salt.
Either way, spoon the pesto into small, sterilised jars and pour a little oil over the surface to exclude any air. Cap with metal lids. Store in the fridge and use within 4 weeks. If you are making a lot of pesto, pack in small containers and freeze.
When you come to use the pesto, stir it well before spooning out. Make sure the surface of any pesto remaining in the jar is completely covered with oil before you return it to the fridge (this is very important if it is to keep well).
Variations
Traditionally, pesto is made with the leaves of the sweet basil plant (Ocimum basilicum). It’s better suited to warmer climates than ours, where there are fewer slugs to devour the sweetly pungent leaves, but, if you manage to grow it in good quantities, do make use of it in this recipe. Alternatively, try some of our native herbs as the base for your pesto. Young, raw nettle tops and wild garlic leaves (both to be gathered in early spring) work beautifully together, as does parsley (flat leaf or curly). Hazels or walnuts can stand in for pine nuts, and a mature, robust Cheddar is a good alternative to Parmesan.
P.S. Calendula officinalis, or common garden marigold, is a really useful herb and should not to be ignored for culinary purposes. The golden pigment of the petals can be used, like saffron, to colour rice, cakes, desserts and butter. Alternatively, sprinkle the bittersweet, aromatic petals over mixed salad leaves, or toss a few into a fresh herb omelette.
Slow-dried tomatoes in oil
Season: July to September
I love the gutsy flavour of these tomatoes and like to serve them as part of a crisp smoked bacon and beetroot salad, or a hearty couscous salad with plenty of fresh coriander. There are times though, when I can’t resist eating them from the jar!
Ideally the fruit would be sun-dried but we just don’t have sufficient hours of sunshine in this country. Slowly drying them in a very low oven achieves similar and very pleasing results, although you do need a sizeable quantity of tomatoes.
Makes 2–3 x 225g jars
2kg tomatoes
2 tsp salt
2 tsp granulated sugar
100ml white wine vinegar
200–300ml olive, rapeseed or sunflower oil
Preheat the oven to 100°C/Gas Mark ¼. Cut the tomatoes in half around their middles and scoop out the pips with a teaspoon. Put the tomatoes, cut side up, on a wire rack with a baking sheet underneath to catch any drips. Sprinkle a few grains of salt and sugar on each cut tomato half. Leave for 10–15 minutes for the seasoning to begin to permeate the tomato flesh, then turn the tomatoes so their cut sides face down on the rack.
Set the rack of tomatoes over the baking sheet in the oven and leave them to dry for 6–10 hours; the drying time will depend on their size and juiciness. The tomatoes are ready when they are dry to the touch but still a little plump and fleshy. They’ll have reduced by around 90 per cent and the total weight after drying will be about 200g. Don’t let the tomatoes dry until they become brittle. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then transfer to a shallow dish. Pour the vinegar over the tomatoes, cover and leave to stand for about 30 minutes.
Pack the tomatoes into sterilised jars to within 2cm of the top of the jar. Distribute the vinegar between the jars and then cover the tomatoes completely with oil, tapping the jar to expel any trapped air. Seal with lids. Store in a cool, dry place and use within 4 months. Once opened, store in the fridge, always make sure the tomatoes are fully covered with oil, and use within 6 weeks.
Variations
Use half balsamic and half white wine vinegar if you prefer. A tablespoonful or two of finely chopped preserved lemons is a flavourful addition.
Roasted tomato ketchup
Season: July to September
Slow-roasted tomatoes provide a rich, intense base for this, my all-time favourite ketchup. The spices and seasonings I have used are good old-fashioned ones – those our grandmothers would have kept in their kitchens. However, if you like, you can fire it up by adding a couple of teaspoonfuls of chilli powder. Don’t expect the ketchup to be the same colour as a commercial variety; it will be a warm orangey-red colour.
Makes 500–600ml
1 quantity (1 litre) roast tomato passata
100ml cider vinegar
50ml lemon juice
1 heaped tsp celery salt
1 heaped tsp mustard powder
1 heaped tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp ground cloves
100g demerara sugar
Put the passata into a heavy-based pan with the vinegar, lemon juice and spices. Bring to simmering point then add the sugar. Stir until dissolved then continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25–30 minutes, until the sauce is reduced to a thick but pourable consistency.
Pour immediately into warm, sterilised bottles or jars. Seal immediately with vinegar-proof lids. Store in a cool, dry place and use within 4 months. For longer keeping, sterilise the filled jars using the method here. Once opened, keep in the fridge.
Variation
Rhubarb makes a delightful fruity ketchup and is a good way to use up the tougher, tarter stalks towards the end of the rhubarb season. Slow roast 2kg chopped rhubarb with 250g chopped red onions and 3–4 garlic cloves at 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for about an hour. Sieve the mixture and put into a heavy-based saucepan. Use the same quantities of sugar and vinegar as above, but leave out the lemon juice (as rhubarb is very acidic). Replace the mustard, black pepper and cloves with a good teaspoonful each of ground cumin and coriander. Continue to cook as for tomato ketchup.
Harissa paste
Season: July to September
Harissa is a North African ingredient, used to enhance many fish and meat dishes, as well as couscous and soups. I also like to use my version to make a fruity, fiery dipping sauce (see below) to serve with pork, fish or prawns.
The strength of the paste depends on the variety and quantity of chillies used. The chances are that this recipe, which I would describe as moderately hot, will merely tickle the palate of out-and-out chilli freaks. But all you need do, to make it fierier, is increase the amount of chillies, include more of their seeds (see below), or perhaps add one or two very hot little dried chillies.
Makes 2 x 112g jars
250g tomatoes
50g hot chillies
2 fat garlic cloves
50g shallots
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp salt
50ml olive or hemp oil
Drop the tomatoes into a pan of boiling water for 30 seconds then scoop out and peel off the skins.
Remove the stalk and calyx from the chillies. The seeds contain most of the fruit’s heat and, at this point, you can choose either to leave all the seeds in or, for a less intense paste, cut at least some of them out. Either way, make sure you wash your hands after handling chillies and avoid touching your eyes for a while, as the chilli oil will burn them.
Put the skinned tomatoes, chillies and all the other ingredients, except the oil, in a food processor and blitz until well blended. Tip into a small saucepan and heat until boiling then simmer for about 10 minutes until reduced and starting to thicken. Leave to cool. Pack into warm, sterilised jars, leaving a 1cm gap at the top. Pour oil over the paste to completely cover it. Seal the jars.
Store in the fridge and use within 4 months. If you want to extend the sh
elf life, pack in small, sealable containers and freeze. Once opened, keep in the fridge, making sure the paste in the jar is completely covered by a layer of oil.
P. S. For a tasty chilli plum dipping sauce, simmer 50ml rice or cider vinegar, 100g plum jam and 1 tsp harissa paste until reduced and thickened.
Asparagus preserved in oil
Season: May to June
Spotting the first tips of asparagus pushing their way above ground in late spring is one of the greatest moments of the growing year. It means there will be asparagus to eat every day for the next few weeks; I also like to preserve a few jarfuls.
Use a good, but not really expensive olive oil. When the asparagus has been eaten, the flavoured oil can be used to make a lovely salad dressing.
You will need one jam jar, about 20cm high, with a capacity of around 500ml, and a second jar of 250ml capacity.
Makes 2 jars (1 x 500ml, 1 x 250ml)
500g asparagus
300ml cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
2 fat garlic cloves or shallots, finely sliced
1 tsp peppercorns
A few rosemary, thyme or basil sprigs
100ml lemon juice
400–500ml olive oil
Trim away the tough woody ends of the asparagus, then cut into lengths 1cm less than the height of your larger jar, keeping the tender trimmed-off bits to one side.
Put the vinegar and 200ml water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm. Meanwhile, place a griddle pan over a high heat. Add the long asparagus spears and cook, turning once or twice, until lightly charred. Drop the spears into the hot vinegar bath and leave for 3–4 minutes. This sharpens the flavour of the asparagus, while the acidity assists in preventing bacterial growth.
Put about two-thirds of the garlic or shallot and peppercorns in the sterilised 500ml jar. Remove the asparagus from the vinegar bath and pack it, upright, into the jar. Add a few herbs. Pour over two-thirds of the lemon juice, then cover completely with oil. Seal with a lid. Repeat the entire process with the trimmed-off ends in the smaller jar, using up the remaining peppercorns, garlic, herbs, lemon juice and oil.
Keep in a cool, dark place for 6 weeks before using. Consume within 4 months. Once opened, keep in the fridge, making sure the asparagus in the jar remains covered with oil, and use within 6 weeks.
Variations
Substitute char-grilled peppers or lightly cooked artichoke hearts for the asparagus.
Flavoured oils
Season: more or less any time
These are dead easy to make and have endless applications in the kitchen. Use them to baste or brown ingredients and they will add pizzazz and excitement to stews and roasts. Likewise, they will jazz up a panful of onions or other veg for a soup or sauce, and impart character to fish dishes. Herb oils come into their own when drizzled over summer or winter salads; they are also excellent used in mayonnaises and dressings.
The basic principle is to choose robust flavourings and leave them for long enough to impart their mighty characters to the oil. Always use a good-quality oil as your base (see here). In all cases, to prevent the oil becoming rancid, store in a cool place and use within 6 months.
Chilli oil
Split open 6–8 dried or fresh chillies. Pack into a dry, sterilised 500–600ml jar or bottle, along with 1 tsp black peppercorns. Heat 500ml olive or rapeseed oil to about 40°C and pour over the chillies. Cover and leave to infuse for 14 days – a little more for a stronger oil. Strain and re-bottle.
Nice spice oil
In a dry frying pan, heat 1 tbsp each of coriander, cumin and fennel seeds together with a couple of dried chillies. Toast until they release their distinctive fragrances and just start to brown – shake the pan frequently to prevent them from burning. Crush the toasted seeds then transfer them to a dry, sterilised 500–600ml jar or bottle. Pour over 500ml rapeseed oil. Leave for a couple of weeks before straining the oil and re-bottling.
Herb oil
Lightly pack a dry, sterilised 580ml jar with freshly gathered herbs such as basil, rosemary, thyme, sage or oregano. You can use individual herbs on their own or mix a few together. Pour over 500ml olive oil and leave in a cool place for a couple of weeks before straining and re-bottling the oil.
Chilli oil
Pontack (elderberry) sauce
Season: August to September
This is kitchen alchemy at its most exciting and rewarding: a mysterious-looking brew of dark elderberries, vinegar and spices becomes a truly wonderful sauce, a secret weapon for the store cupboard that I don’t like to be without. According to tradition, pontack sauce is best used after 7 years, but I’m hard pushed to keep it for 7 months. Pungent, fruity and spicy, it’s an unrivalled partner for winter stews, casseroled liver, slow-roasted belly of pork, or anything wild and gamey. Besides serving this sauce alongside meat dishes, you can add a couple of tablespoonfuls to sauces and gravies.
The elderberry season is short and the berries are part of the hedgerow banquet for woodland birds, so don’t delay – gather when you see them.
Makes 1 x 350ml bottle
500g elderberries
500ml cider vinegar
200g shallots, peeled and sliced
6 cloves
4 allspice berries
1 blade of mace
1 tbsp black peppercorns
15g fresh root ginger, bruised
Strip the berries from the stalks as soon as possible after picking – a table fork is useful for doing this. Place them in an ovenproof earthenware or glass dish with the vinegar and put in a very low oven (about 130°C/Gas Mark ½) for 4–6 hours, or overnight. Remove from the oven and strain through a sieve, crushing the berries with a potato masher as you do so, to obtain maximum juice.
Put the rich, red-black juice in the pan along with the sliced shallots, spices and ginger. Bring gently to the boil and cook for 20–25 minutes until slightly reduced (perhaps muttering some magic charm while you watch over the dark, bubbling potion). Remove from the heat and strain through a sieve.
Return the juice to the pan and bring to the boil, then boil steadily for 5 minutes. Pour the sauce into a warm, sterilised bottle and seal. Store in a cool, dark cupboard.
P.S. This sauce grows better with age, so try to lay some bottles down for a few months if you can.
Pontack (elderberry) sauce
Saucy haw ketchup
Season: September to December
Hawthorn is widespread throughout Britain, and frequently used for hedging along farmland or roads. It’s a lovely tree and provides vital natural accommodation for native birds, insects and invertebrates. Frothy white hawthorn blossom heralds the beginning of summer and the fading flowers later give way to developing clusters of blood-red berries, or haws. These swathe the hedgerows from early autumn well into winter – sometimes even through to the new year. The peppery, lemony little berries are too tart to eat raw, but I love them cooked into this sweet-sour hedgerow sauce.
Hawthorn tends to fruit prolifically, so you should have little trouble gathering enough haws. Do avoid picking from roadside bushes, however, as these may have absorbed fumes and pollution (although, for some reason, they often seem to be laden with the biggest and juiciest berries of all!).
Serve haw ketchup with rich meats such as venison or slow-roast belly of pork. It is also terrific drizzled over Welsh rarebit. My favourite way to enjoy this spicy sauce, however, is with a really good nut roast, served with a crisp green salad.
Makes 1 x 300ml bottle
500g haws
300ml white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
170g sugar
½ tsp salt
Ground black pepper to taste
Strip the haws from the stalks – the easiest way to do this is to snip them off with a pair of scissors or secateurs. Rinse in cold water.
Put the haws into a pan with the vinegar and 300ml water and simmer for about 30 minutes – the skins will split, revealin
g the firm, yellow flesh. Cook until the flesh is soft and the berries have become a muted red-brown. Remove from the heat. Rub the mixture through a sieve, or pass through a food mill, to remove the largish stones and the skins.
Return the fruity mixture to the cleaned-out pan. Add the sugar and heat gently, stirring, until it dissolves. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper. Pour into a sterilised bottle and seal with a vinegar-proof cap. Use within 12 months.
Souper mix
Season: more or less any time
A good vegetable bouillon or stock can be the making of many a soup, risotto or sauce. Preparing your own stock from scratch is easy enough – but it does take a little time, so an instant alternative is often welcome. The choice of vegetable bouillon powders and stock cubes on the market is pretty limited. There are one or two good products but, if you use them frequently, you might find an underlying uniformity creeping into your cooking. This is my solution. Whip up your very own souper mix – a concentrated paste of fresh vegetables simply preserved with salt. It’s quick and easy to make and the stock it produces is delicious.
You can use just about any herb or vegetable you like – the important thing is that they are fresh and taste as vegetabley as possible. My preferred ingredients are indicated in this recipe, but you could also use young turnips, shallots, celery, swede, beetroot or peppers, as well as bay, thyme, lovage or mint – almost anything, really. Just bear in mind that the character of the stock will vary depending on the ingredients you choose.
The following are prepared weights, i.e. the ingredients should be washed, trimmed and peeled (where necessary).
Makes 3 x 340g jars
250g leek
200g fennel
200g carrot
250g celeriac
50g sun-dried tomatoes
2–3 garlic cloves
100g parsley
100g coriander
250g salt
The helping hand of a food processor is essential in this recipe. Simply put all the ingredients into the processor and blend together. The result will be a moist, granular paste. Spoon into sterilised jars and seal with vinegar-proof lids.