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My farmers’ market (and my beds) are full of swiss chard. It is one of the few edible plants I could cope with this year – it grows with such ease and grows back so quickly after each picking that I feel it is the ultimate kitchen gardener’s friend. It is a great bedfellow for mushrooms, which lend a bit of meatiness to those leaves. With those, I also like to add ancho, a rich, full-bodied but not spicy chilli that is readily available in flaked form in many supermarkets around the country (nora or guajillo are good substitutes), while the feta, like queso fresco in Mexico, adds a lovely, tangy saltiness. It’s a dish for those Sundays when you are low on time, but want a rich, soothing feast.
Mushroom linguine with ancho, silky onions and chard
A wonderfully autumnal pasta with sweet onions, tarragon, cream and flecks of rich ancho. If you can’t find chard, add one more onion to the sauce.
Prep 15 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4
Olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced
Salt and black pepper
300g swiss chard or spinach
1 small handful tarragon, leaves picked
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
1-2 tsp ancho flakes
3 tbsp sherry
250ml double cream
30g butter
400g chestnut or mixed mushrooms, sliced
300g linguine
To serve
80g feta, crumbled
3-4 tbsp slivered almonds, toasted
Zest of 1 lemon
If you can’t find chard, add one more onion to the sauce.
Put two tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat, add the onion and season generously. While the onions start to cook, wash the chard and chop the stalks into 1-2cm slices, then add them to the onion pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes, until soft.
Finely chop the tarragon, reserve a small amount for the garnish, then stir the rest into the onion pan with the garlic and ancho, and cook for three to four minutes, until the garlic is soft. Cut the chard leaves into thick 2-3cm ribbons, then stir into the onions with the sherry and cream. Add a few tablespoons of water, cover the pan and leave to simmer gently for seven to eight minutes.
Meanwhile, turn your attention to the mushrooms. Put a second large frying pan on a high heat and add two tablespoons of oil and the butter. Add the mushrooms and saute, stirring often, for 10-12 minutes, until they’re starting to turn golden, then tip into the onion pan.
While the mushrooms are cooking, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions in a pan of well-salted boiling water. Drain, reserving a cup of the pasta cooking water, then add the pasta to the mushroom pan and, using a pair of tongs, toss and mix, adding a few tablespoons of the cooking water to bind the sauce into a silky-smooth emulsion.
Taste and adjust the seasoning, then serve at once, sprinkled with crumbled feta, a few toasted almonds, a drizzle of extra olive oil, the lemon zest and the reserved tarragon.
Poached pears with spiced hazelnut crumble topping
This is a lovely way to serve poached pears: gently spiced with the crumble served both on top and on the side, to preserve that delicious crunch and with none of the usual sogginess. It also means that you can make everything ahead - perfection!
Prep 10 min
Cook 1 hr 10 min
Serves 6
250g caster sugar
50ml white wine, or sherry (optional)
30g ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cinnamon stick
3 green cardamom pods, bashed
½ vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 lemon
6 large, firm pears
For the crumble topping
120g roasted hazelnuts
120g oats
100g light muscovado sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
70g mixed seeds (eg, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
100g cold butter, cubed
1 tbsp maple syrup
¼ tsp sea salt
Pour 400ml water into a saucepan, add 200g of the sugar and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Add the wine (if using), ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla. Peel strips of zest off the lemon, then add them to the pan along with the juice of half the lemon.
Peel the pears, leaving the stalks on; if the pears are very large, cut them in half lengthways, otherwise leave them whole. Drop the pears into the liquid in the pan, top up with water to cover, then bring to a boil. Cut out a circle of baking paper to cover the pears, then simmer on a gentle heat for 12-18 minutes, until the pears are cooked through but still hold their shape (a knife should slide through them easily). Drain the pears, saving the syrup.
When the syrup has cooled, strain it, then scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into the syrup. Return the syrup mix to the pan with the remaining 50g sugar, being to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes, until reduced a little.
To make the topping, heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and line a large oven tray with baking paper. Put half the hazelnuts and half the oats in a food processor and pulse to a rough powder. Roughly chop the remaining 60g nuts, then put them in a large bowl with the nut and oat powder, the remaining 60g oats, sugar, cinnamon and seeds. Add the butter and use your fingertips to work it into the mixture. Once combined, clump together with your fingers so you have larger lumps of crumble, then tip the lot on to the lined tray. Drizzle with the maple syrup and sprinkle with the salt, then bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring once halfway, until turning golden.
Serve the pears topped with a little of the crumble, scatter more on the side and drizzle over a little of the warm syrup. Thick cold cream, ice-cream or custard all go beautifully.
