A lunch menu for a good day.
What should we cook this weekend? What about fresh, baked ricotta, lavosh, roasted chicken, braised lentils and a plum tart.
Once a month, I host a cooking class here at the farm. We have a space a couple of kms from the house, renovated a year or so ago, which doubles as a B&B and occasional small-group classroom. Everyone (no more than ten people) comes at 10 am, we have coffee and cake, we cook lunch together, then sit and eat together.
They are always, (I hope), days full of laughs, learning, nice new people meeting, chatting and doing things like making pastry together. Last Saturday, we had just such a group, all just so lovely and all so keen to get involved and chop, knead, peel, whatever.
And like always, the food we cooked wasn’t fancy but it was tasty, colourful, generous and seasonal. My kind of food.
Here are the recipes. The full menu would make a special lunch for this long weekend, or pick and choose one or two recipes, perhaps to take to a friend’s or mix in with an existing plan? The tart travels well and would be good for a picnic.
Thank you, as always, for being here, and to my paid and founding subscribers, I appreciate your support more than you know.
Happy Easter, see you next week. All recipes below serve 6-8 people.
Sophie x
Ps - If you’d like to come along one day, please note that all 2025 dates are currently full but I will have 2026 dates later in the year. The bnb has dates available though if you’d like to come and stay sometime!
FRESH RICOTTA BAKED IN FIG LEAVES
This is such a delicious thing to make as a starter, or side for a lovely lunch (maybe with a salad, and some charcuterie). The fig leaves give everything a lovely, nutty and gently floral flavour, and it is just a gorgeous thing to make and share. You could 100% make this with store-bought ricotta, but I promise making it yourself (see recipe below) is EASY, and the soft, fresh ricotta does take this whole thing up a few notches. And likewise, if you don’t have access to fig leaves, use baking paper and a layer of foil instead.
This photo was taken a couple of weeks earlier. I didn’t get a chance to shoot the one we made on Saturday, but I also wanted to show you how the baked ricotta, with a few extras (eg prosciutto and focaccia), can be a beautiful meal in and of itself.
• 6 large fig leaves
• 1 1/2 cups fresh ricotta (homemade preferred, see recipe below)
• Olive oil
• 2 tbsp dukkah (or toasted fennel seeds and crushed walnuts)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or other hard cheese
• 1 orange, zested
• Sea salt
• Kitchen twine (or toothpicks/kebab sticks)
• Sliced bread, for serving
• Fresh figs, torn (optional)
• Chilli flakes, to taste
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a tray with baking paper, then arrange the fig leaves on top. Drizzle the fig leaves with olive oil. Dollop the ricotta in the middle of the leaves.
Sprinkle with dukkah (or toasted fennel seeds and crushed walnuts). Add the grated Parmesan, orange zest, a sprinkle of salt, and another drizzle of oil.
Wrap the fig leaves to form a parcel and tie with kitchen twine (or secure with toothpicks/kebab sticks). Surround with sliced bread and torn figs (if using). Drizzle everything with a little more oil. Bake for about 20 minutes. Unwrap, transfer to a fresh fig leaf to serve, and sprinkle with chilli flakes to taste.
HOMEMADE RICOTTA
• 4 cups whole milk
• 2 cups pure cream
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar (or rice vinegar or lemon juice)
Combine the milk, cream, and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer (around 90°C if using a candy thermometer). Set a sieve over a bowl and line with a few layers of clean chux (or muslin).
Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the vinegar or lemon juice. Leave for a few minutes for the mixture to curdle.
Gently whisk to accelerate the curdling process. Pour the curdled milk mixture into the sieve and leave to slowly drain for about 25 minutes.
After draining, you should have about 2 cups of ricotta.
Store in the refrigerator. Keep the leftover 'ricotta whey' for use in bread, focaccia, smoothies, or similar recipes.
SEEDY LAVOSH
This simple recipe produces gorgeously crisp, flavoursome crackers that are excellent with the above dips or any other cheese/dip combination. Make up a big jar's worth and keep some at home for optional snacking at all times.
• 1 1/3 cups (200g) plain flour
• 4 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp nigella seeds
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
• 1/2 cup (125ml) water
• Extra olive oil and sea salt to brush on before baking
Preheat oven to 170°C and grease and line a baking tray with paper. Mix together the flour, seeds and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the olive oil and water in a small jug and then stir this into the dry ingredients. Work into a rough dough, then turn out onto a work surface and gently knead until soft. Divide the dough into four or five pieces.
Roll out one piece of dough between two pieces of baking paper until about the thickness of a one-dollar coin or less. Transfer to the baking tray and brush with a little more olive oil and sprinkle with the extra sea salt. Or use a ravioli cutter or knife to cut into rectangles. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Let cool, then break into shards (if you baked in one piece) and store in an airtight container.
Variations - Instead of or as well as the seeds, you could add a teaspoon of finely chopped fresh or dried rosemary or oregano. A few chilli flakes would also be good worked though the dough before baking too.
ROASTED CHICKEN PIECES WITH BRAISED LENTILS
This recipe is one of my favourite ways to easily feed a group. You could easily roast a whole chicken and carve, or joint one and cook in pieces. Using marylands as we have here makes it so easy though, everything is perfectly portioned and you’ve got that golden skin and flavour from cooking the chicken on the bone.
And as for the lentils, this recipe was inspired by this one from a favourite Instagram account. They make a great alternative to roast or mashed potatoes and are deeply, deliciously flavoured and comforting. Plus, I love serving roasted meat on a bed of something piping hot like this, keeps everything warm and tasty and looking fab. We finished the dish with a sprinkling of gremolata (finely chopped parsley, garlic and lemon zest).
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 onions, diced
• 4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 200g green lentils, rinsed well
• 600ml water or stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 40g butter
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar (start with half and adjust to taste)
• Parsley, chopped
• Lemon zest
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 6-8 bone-in chicken pieces (Maryland if possible)
• Olive oil for frying and chicken
Heat the oil in a large pan, cook the garlic, carrots and onions on low for about 20 minutes or until completely softened. Add in the aromatics, salt and pepper, lentils and water, bring to the boil and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring often. Season well.
Drizzle the chicken pieces in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast at 180°C for 30 minutes, then 220°C for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven, cover with foil to rest.
Right at the end, stir through the mustard and butter, add a little water and pan juices from the chicken and check the flavour. It might need a little red wine vinegar or lemon juice? Sprinkle over the parsley and zest.
Serve the lentils on a lovely big platter and place the chicken pieces on top. Sprinkle with a handful of finely chopped parsley, lemon zest and one finely chopped garlic clove.
RADICCHIO AND ROCKET SALAD WITH PEAR, PARMESAN AND CARAMELISED WALNUTS
A colourful, crunchy salad full of flavour - I’d happily have just this for lunch!
• Radicchio leaves
• Rocket leaves
• 1 ripe pear
• Parmesan cheese, shaved
• Caramelised walnuts (see below)
• Lemon juice
• Good olive oil
150g soft gorgonzola cheese
For the caramelised walnuts:
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup walnut halves
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp fennel seeds
Wash and dry your greens and the radicchio. Fill a bowl or the sink with cold water. Plunge in the greens and swirl around a little. Leave for a minute so any grit can sink to the bottom. Remove and spin or shake as dry as you can. Lay a couple of tea towels out on your workbench and arrange your greens across them. Gently roll into two sausages and place in the fridge. Keep it like this, then unwrap and tip it straight into your salad bowl, ready to dress.
For the nuts, start by lining a large tray with baking paper. Then place 1/2 cup sugar in a large frying pan with 1 cup walnut halves, 1/2 tsp sea salt and 1/4 tsp fennel seeds. Cook gently so the sugar melts into a caramel that coats the walnuts as you move them around the pan (constantly - or they'll burn).
Once the nuts are fairly evenly coated with the salty caramel, transfer to the lined tray and leave to cool. Break up and sprinkle over the salad before serving.
Thinly slice one ripe pear.
'Unwrap' your salad and tip it into a big bowl. Add the pear, nuts and gorgonzola. To dress this salad, all you want is a good squeeze of lemon juice, a good drizzle of good olive oil and a handful of shaved Parmesan. Gently toss with your hands and then transfer to a serving bowl or platter.
PLUM FRANGIPANE TART
I think this might just be my favourite autumn dessert. And it's a total team effort; those tart plums, the buttery almond filling, and that gorgeous golden pastry shell all coming together in perfect, delicious harmony. You can make all the elements (the pastry and the frangipane filling) well in advance, and just bring them together in the afternoon or morning, as required.
And on that note, I'd recommend making double the frangipane mix as it freezes really well and is for for any kind of quick dessert (just thaw some frozen puff, cut into squares and spread with frangipane and top with a slice or two of fresh fruit then bake till golden. Yum!).
As always, feel free to swap the plums with any seasonal fruit.
• 1 x quantity sweet pastry dough (below)
• About 8 plums (or thereabouts)
For the frangipane filling:
• 6 tbsp (90g) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar• 3/4 cup (90g) almond meal
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 egg
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
Roll pastry out between two pieces of baking paper until about 5mm thick and then gently drape into your tart tin (about a 22cm diameter seems to work perfectly with this quantity of dough), trim the edges by rolling over them with your rolling pin and return to the fridge for another half an hour or so.
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Now make up the frangipane mixture. Combine butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy. Add the almond meal, flour, cornflour and the egg and mix until soft and smooth. Stir through the seeds from your vanilla bean and set aside.
Line the chilled tart shell with a layer of baking paper and fill with baking weights, rice or dried chickpeas. Blind bake for 10 minutes. Remove the weights and baking paper and cook for another 10 minutes or until the pastry shell feels dry and looks a pale yellow colour.
Meanwhile, slice the plums into thin crescents. Spoon the frangipane mix into the tart shell and arrange plum slices in a star-shaped pattern on top.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry edges are golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.
BASIC SWEET PASTRY RECIPE
• 150g cold butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour
• 1/2 cup (80g) icing sugar
• 1 egg, cold
• Cold water, if needed
Combine the butter, flour and icing sugar in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until you have a coarse sand-like texture. Add the egg and blitz again until you have a sand-like texture, if you
feel it needs a little splash of cold water, then add that too. Don't wait for it to form a bal,l or it might become over-worked.
Tip the mixture out onto a work surface and bring it together with the palm of your hand to form a lovely smooth disc of dough. Wrap this in plastic and pop in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
