ArchiveMay 2025

This week an update from the London food scene.

I was over for a wedding lunch at Corrigan’s in Grosvenor Street, and chic, delicious and wonderfully convivial it was too. I particularly loved the new seasons’ English asparagus swimming in Nori seaweed butter. They used Yakisushinori roasted Nori seaweed and added a bunch of watercress as a garnish – delicious!

And guess what, I managed to get a table at the Yellow Bittern in Caledonian Road. Felt like winning the Lotto, it’s owned and run by Hugh Corcoran from Belfast and his lovely daughter Frances. Open just for lunch Monday – Friday and closed at the weekend. Two sittings, one at 12pm and the other at 2pm – just twenty people. The food is simple, comforting and delicious. The super fresh ingredients are laid out on the worktop in the tiny kitchen at the end of the restaurant. Hugh and his assistant do their magic on two stove tops and a tiny oven. We ordered radishes with butter and flaky sea salt, brown crab with mayonnaise and freshly baked soda bread. The flavour of the mixed brown and white crab meat reminded me of the flavours of early Ballymaloe. Myrtle always served both brown and white crab meat to encourage the fishermen to catch and sell whole crabs rather than just claws. Many other good things including a succulent beef pie and one of the best crème brûlée I’ve ever tasted. I was so delighted when he showed me his copy of his favourite cookbook Forgotten Skills, held together with Sellotape!

Always fun to catch up with Ballymaloe Cookery School alumni when I’m travelling. George Williams and Beth O’Brien have recently opened the Fat Badger over Canteen on Portobello Road, a super cool bar with live music and a restaurant with an open kitchen on top. It was really rocking, once again a delicious dinner. I particularly loved the intense nettle soup and a dotey little individual soda bread with good butter and a custard tart extraordinaire – Bravo to all again. A tough place to bag a table but definitely worth a try (tell them you read about it in The Examiner!)

So proud of ‘our babies’, next stop Stevie Parle’s Town on Drury Lane. This is a much larger space designed by North End Design. It was absolutely throbbing with enthusiastic diners on its second night. Stevie offered me many tastes from his super creative menu, I particularly loved the deliciously fresh winter tomatoes with cod crudo and tomato water. He’s been experimenting with lots of heritage citrus from Todolli Farm in Spain’s Valencia which provided little bursts of tart flavour.

The Wine-Cured wildfarmed beef with candied walnuts and cheese whizz was another intriguing combination, all the more interesting because the cheese came from his brother, Mike Parle who hand makes several artisan cheeses in The Lost Valley Dairy and Creamery in Inchigeelagh in Co. Cork. He and his partner sell from his stall at the Skibbereen Farmers’ Market every Saturday.

Add these to your London list plus a sweet little place in Hampstead called La Cage Imaginaire, where I had a lovely leisurely lunch with my dear friend of many years Claudia Roden, author of the Middle Eastern cookbook and many others and who introduced us all to hummus et al in the 1990’s.

Devotees will be so happy to hear that Claudia’s now in her late eighties is working on yet another book – her twenty-second…what an icon!

The Cage Imaginaire is the perfect place for a catch up. Cooking is done from scratch and no throbbing music so we could hear each other rather than having to lip read.

Claudia Roden’s Hummus Bi Tahina

Hummus bi Tahina with its rich earthy taste has got quite a cult following originally. Strange to the palate on first encounter it soon becomes addictive. Brilliant as a starter served as a dip with pitta bread. It is also delicious as part of a mezze, with kebabs or as a salad with a main dish. Terrific for school lunches and so easy to make. This recipe is from Claudia’s Middle Eastern Food first published in 1968 by Thomas Nelson.

Serves 4-8 (depending on how it is served)

Ingredients

110-175g cooked chickpeas (see below) or use tinned for meals in minutes

freshly squeezed juice of 2-3 lemons, or to taste

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

salt

150ml tahini paste (available from health food shops)

½ – 1 tsp ground cumin seed

Garnish

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

a few cooked chickpeas

Accompaniment

pitta bread or any crusty white bread

Method

Cover and soak the dried chickpeas overnight in lots of cold water.

Drain the chickpeas, cover with fresh water. Add a good pinch of bicarbonate of soda, bring to the boil and cook until tender, this can take anything from 30-60 minutes. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid. Remove any loose skins and keep a few whole ones aside for garnish.

Whizz up the remainder in an electric mixer or blender or food processor with the lemon juice and a little cooking water, if necessary, add the crushed garlic, tahini paste, cumin and salt to taste. Blend to a soft creamy paste, add more cooking water if necessary. Taste and continue to add lemon juice and salt until you are happy with the flavour – the texture should be soft and silky. Pour the creamy mixture into a serving dish, mix the paprika with a little extra virgin olive oil, dribble over the surface, do the same with the chopped parsley. Sprinkle with a few cooked chickpeas. Serve as a

dip with pitta bread or as an accompaniment to kebabs.

Pitta Crisps

Ingredients

3 mini pita breads (about 9cm in diameter), halved crosswise

4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp freshly ground cumin

½ tsp salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/Gas Mark 6. 

Cut pita into triangles.  Brush evenly with olive oil, sprinkle with cumin and salt.  Spread pita strips in a single layer on a baking tray and bake in the middle of the oven for 3 minutes or until crisp and golden.  Serve immediately to scoop up the hummus.

Stevie Parle’s Cod Crudo with Tomato Water and Basil Oil

Clean, vivid and elegant – this crudo balances the sweetness of tomato, fragrant basil oil, and bright citrus over delicate slices of cured cod. You need to make this with whatever are the best tomatoes you can find — at the moment we’re using a winter variety from Sardinia called Marinda, though we’ve planted a whole tunnel of different tomatoes for the summer. We weigh liquids on a normal digital scale – it’s much easier and more consistent than using spoons or jugs. If you’re eating wild fish raw, it’s advisable to freeze it first to kill any potential parasites.

Serves 4

Method

For the cod cure:

300g caster sugar

600g coarse sea salt

zest of 1 lemon

zest of 1 orange

For the tomato water (yields 400g):

400g Marinda tomatoes

400g vine tomatoes

20g fresh basil

4g fish sauce (we use colatura di alici)

16g sea salt flakes

16g sherry vinegar

16g white wine vinegar

10g caster sugar

4g black peppercorns

For the basil oil (yields more than needed):

228g fresh basil leaves

900g sunflower oil

To serve

1-2 Marinda tomatoes, sliced as thinly as possible with a

sharp knife

180g cured cod (sliced)

100g tomato water

basil oil, to drizzle

a few segments of pomelo or grapefruit (optional)

Method

Cure the cod.

Blitz the sugar, salt, and citrus zests in a food processor. Coat a cod loin evenly in the cure and refrigerate for 4 hours. Rinse well, pat dry, and chill. Slice thinly just before serving.

Make the tomato water.

Roughly chop the tomatoes and combine with the remaining ingredients. Marinate for 20 minutes. Blend everything, then strain through muslin cloth overnight without pressing.

Make the basil oil.

Blend the basil and sunflower oil in a Thermomix at 90°C for 9 minutes (alternatively, heat in a saucepan for a couple of minutes and use a blender to emulsify). Strain through muslin cloth and chill.

To plate

Lay a few very thin slices of Marinda tomato on the base of each chilled plate. Arrange slices of cured cod on top. Spoon over around 25g of tomato water per portion. Finish with basil oil and citrus segments if using.

Fat Badger’s Brown Sugar Custard Tart

Thank you to Beth O’Brien, pastry chef extraordinaire for sharing this delicious recipe, best custard tart I’ve ever tasted…

Ingredients

Pastry
80g butter
80g icing sugar
1 egg
240g plain flour
35g ground almonds
pinch of salt 

1 egg, to egg wash 

Custard 
240g milk
900g cream
200g dark brown sugar 
pinch of salt  
12 egg yolks

caster sugar, Maldon sea salt and crème fraîche, to finish 

Method

For the pastry, cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment for 2 minutes until combined but not aerated. Add the egg and mix well, then add the flour, almonds and salt and mix to combine. Wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Remove the pastry from the refrigerator. Roll out to an even disc around 3mm thick. Line a deep tart tin (25cm in size), pushing the pastry into the corners and pushing against the edges of the tin. Chill for at least 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Trim the edges and line the tart with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then remove the baking beans, brush generously with egg wash and bake for a further 7 minutes.

For the custard, heat the milk and cream to just about a simmer while you combine the sugar, salt and egg yolks in a bowl. Pour half the hot milk and cream over the yolks, whisk to combine, then pour this mixture back into the pot and whisk thoroughly. 

Reduce the oven temperature to 155°C/Gas Mark 3. 

Pour the custard into the blind baked tin and return to the oven. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until there is only a very slight wobble in the centre when baked. Chill fully before slicing.

To serve, sprinkle a generous amount of caster sugar on top of each slice and use a blowtorch to brûlée. Put a pinch of flaky salt on top and serve with crème fraîche. 

It’s definitely time for a column on baking…it’s been far too long but I’ve been prompted by World Baking Day on May 18^th to share a few of my favourite confections.
For some, baking isn’t just a culinary activity, it’s an art form and a perfect way to show off your artistic talent.
There are countless Instagram and podcasts celebrating bakers creativity. Seems to be  no end to the possibilities, from riffs on brownies and cookies, pies, buns and scones and cakes, roulades.…
Can you think of a more fun way to unwind, polish up your skills and spread joy.
Oh well, Okay, perhaps you’d prefer to play a game of golf or tennis, but I certainly don’t know a better way to bring a smile to someone’s face than to present them with one of your homemade cakes or a little packet of crunchy cookies – much better pressie than a dodgy bottle of wine if you’re going to a supper party.
Last week when I invited some friends to supper, I was presented with some still warm, sweet and nutty white chocolate and tahini cookies. Such a delicious recipe, a new flavour for me.
This is the brilliant thing about baking, there’s always room for a new confection or a riff on a traditional favourite.
Talk about favourites do you know about the Cherry Bombe podcast,  it’s out of the Rockefeller Centre in New York, Kerry Diamond interviews amazing women chefs from all over the world but mostly the North American continent – you might also want to know about the sister podcast, Jesse Sheehan’s ‘She’s my Cherry Pie’, dedicated to bakers.
Recently, she hosted Ballymaloe pastry chef, JR Ryall to talk about the hotels ‘legendary dessert trolley’, her words not mine. They had an in-depth chat about how to make the perfect chocolate éclairs with hot tips on how to achieve crisp choux pastry and the perfect glaze. If you follow this recipe, you’ll definitely have the perfect éclair. Seek out JR’s ‘Ballymaloe Desserts’ for the recipe.
Just one of the many fascinating baking podcasts, check them out.
So, back to basics, baking is an exact science so to get consistently delicious results it’s vital to measure accurately. Invest in a really good scales, perhaps one that can weigh down to a couple of grams.
Buy the finest ingredients and where appropriate use good Irish butter not margarine or any of those other spreads.
If you’re going to invest your precious time and energy baking, it might as well be delicious.
You’ll also need an accurate oven, I find that I get best results in a conventional oven with elements on top as well as underneath. A fan oven is OK (brilliant for meringues and crispbreads) but it’s a more drying heat so I find my cakes tend to stale faster and are often paler in colour.
If you’re not sure about your oven, for the sake of a few euros, it could be worth investing in an oven thermometer for greater accuracy.
So this week, I’ve included a recipe for Choux au Craquelin, Didi’s Tahini and White Chocolate Cookies and a super impressive Chocolate Bubble Cake from my friend Claire Ptak of Violet cakes in London. Have fun and share the joy.

Choux au Craquelin

These delicious choux buns have an irresistible crunchy craquelin top.

Makes 30 small (2.5cm) or 15 large (5cm)

Ingredients

Choux Pastry

75g strong flour (Baker’s)

small pinch of salt

110ml water

50g butter, cut into 1cm cubes

2-3 eggs depending on size (free range if possible)

Craquelin

85g plain flour

65g butter (room temperature)

80g caster or granulated sugar

Chantilly Cream

300ml whipped cream

½ – 1 tbsp icing sugar

2-3 drops pure vanilla extract

Method

First make the choux pastry.

Sieve the flour with the salt onto a piece of silicone paper.  Heat the water and butter in a high-sided saucepan until the butter is melted. Bring to a fast-rolling boil, take from the heat.  (Note: Prolonged boiling evaporates the water and changes the proportions of the dough).  Immediately the pan is taken from the heat, add all the flour at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for a few seconds until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan to form a ball. Put the saucepan back on a low heat and stir for 30 seconds – 1 minute or until the mixture starts to furr the bottom of the saucepan. Remove from the heat and cool for a few seconds.

Meanwhile set aside one egg, break it and whisk in a bowl.  Add the remaining eggs into the dough, one by one with a wooden spoon, beating thoroughly after each addition.  Make sure the dough comes back to the same texture each time before you add another egg. When it will no longer form a ball in the centre of the saucepan, add the beaten egg little by little. Use just enough to make a mixture that is very shiny and just drops reluctantly from the spoon in a sheet. 

Next make the craquelin.

Combine the flour, butter and sugar in a bowl.  Mix with your fingers to form a dough then knead to a smooth consistency.  Allow to rest for 15 minutes in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Transfer the craquelin dough to a floured sheet of parchment paper and roll out very thin – approx. 2mm.

Pipe the choux and place the discs on top of the craquelin.

Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 35 minutes.

Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Sweeten the whipped cream to taste with icing sugar and a dash of vanilla extract, put into a piping bag with a rose nozzle and pipe into the buns.  Alternatively, split in half across and fill with the sweetened cream or filling of your choice.

Dust with icing sugar.

Serve with hot chocolate sauce or glaze.

Chocolate Sauce

50g plain chocolate

25g unsweetened chocolate

175ml stock syrup, approx. (see below)

rum or pure vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water or in a low heat oven. Gradually stir in the syrup. Flavour with rum or pure vanilla extract.

Stock Syrup

Makes 200ml approx.

110g sugar

150ml water

To make the stock syrup: Dissolve the sugar in the water and bring to the boil.  Boil for 2 minutes then allow it to cool.  Store in the fridge until needed.

JR Ryall’s Chocolate Glaze

175g dark chocolate (62% cocoa solids)

50g salted butter

2 large eggs

Place the chocolate, 2 tablespoons of water and the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of hot water. Stir as the ingredients melt until the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in the eggs. The glaze should be smooth and glossy. 

Didi’s Tahini and White Chocolate Cookies

Thank you Didi for sharing the recipe, my new favourite.

Makes 30-36 approx.

Ingredients

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

100g of caster sugar

90g of light brown sugar

120g butter

6 tbsp of good quality tahini (I like the Greek Haitoglou tahini)

150g of flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp of Fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt

200g white chocolate chips, Valrhona white chocolate drops if you can get them, coarsely chopped

Method

Combine the eggs and both types of sugar in a bowl and whisk until combined.

Melt the butter. Add to the tahini and eggs, gently whisk to combine. Add the flour, baking powder and salt, mix with a fork till all ingredients are incorporated and the dough is soft yet firm. Add the coarsely chopped white chocolate and incorporate into the dough mix.

Scoop the dough with a generous teaspoonful onto a parchment-covered baking tray.

Alternatively, shape your dough into a roll of 4cm diameter, wrap in parchment paper and chill in the refrigerator or freezer. Cut into approx. 3cm slices.

Preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas Mark 3.

Just before baking, sprinkle the cookies with sea salt and bake for 10-13 minutes until the centre of the cookie loses its glistening buttery shine. It’s worth rotating the baking tray halfway through.

Cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Bubble Cake

This impressive looking cake is a speciality of Claire Ptak’s of Violet Cakes located at 47 Wilton Way in London.

Makes one layer 20 x 30cm deep rectangular cake tin

Serves 20-24

For the cake

330g plain flour

150g cocoa powder

1 ½ tsp fine sea salt

2 ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 ½ tsp baking powder

520g caster sugar

3 eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

300g plain yoghurt

150g vegetable oil

340g hot water

For the marshmallow icing

5 egg whites (200g)

340g caster sugar

50g golden syrup

a pinch of fine sea salt

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Decoration

gold leaf (optional)

fresh flower petals for example Marigolds and/or Johnny Jump Ups (little Pansies)

Preheat the oven to 160˚C/Gas Mark 3/ (Fan – 140˚C/Gas Mark 1). Butter and line your cake tin with enough greaseproof paper to come up the sides of the tin, this will help to remove the cake later.

Measure the dry ingredients, including the sugar, into a large mixing bowl and whisk with a balloon whisk to distribute the salt, bicarbonate of soda, and baking powder evenly throughout the other the dry ingredients.

In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (except for the hot water).

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Starting in the middle of the bowl, whisk in a clockwise, circular motion. Don’t switch direction or you’ll end up with lumps. Gradually whisk together until you have a smooth but thick batter.

Whisk in the hot water until smooth.

Pour the batter into your pan right away and bake for 50-60 minutes until the top is springy to the touch and an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool completely in the tin.

Once the cake has cooled, prepare the marshmallow. Have ready your mixer with a whisk attachment.

Measure all of the ingredients into a metal bowl and place over a saucepan of boiling water (do not let the water touch the bottom of the bowl or it will cook the egg whites). Whisk continuously until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is very warm to the touch. Use a thermometer and whisk continuously until it reads 72°C or 70°C (162˚F or 158˚F) for two minutes, whichever comes first. Transfer the mix into the bowl of your electric mixer and whisk on high speed until nearly stiff peaks form.

Put the icing into a piping bag with a large round nozzle and pipe 20-24 big bubbles in rows over the top of the cooled cake. Use a tiny sieve to dust a strip of cocoa powder lengthwise across the cake.  Decorate with flakes of gold leaf and a scattering of fresh flower petals.

Where you see weeds, I see dinner!

Spring is truly in the air, most of the trees are bursting into leaf and the crows are making a terrific racket in the trees behind the house. They have been stealing the sheep’s wool I have been using to mulch around the currant and berry bushes to line their nests, so the chicks are super cozy.  

There’s so much to choose from at this time of the year, but this week’s column celebrates the humble nettle. It’s a food as well as a medicine, wild, free and bursting with vitamins. The young tender leaves are deliciously mild and abundant in both the countryside and urban areas.

We’ve started a batch of nettle beer; this much loved recipe comes from my Forgotten Skills book. It’ll be ready to drink in 5-6 weeks and you can’t imagine how delicious it is.

The much maligned nettle is truly a super food. Our ancestors were well aware of their medicinal properties. My grandfather used to insist that it was of the utmost importance to eat four ‘feeds’ of nettles during the month of May, to clear the blood after winter. We now know that they are indeed rich in vitamins and minerals from calcium, magnesium to potassium.

They are also loaded with Vitamin A, C, K and B and the leaves are high in protein.

There are many references in indigenous folklore. Manuscripts of the early monks referred to nettles and perennial leeks being added to pottages, so we’ve somehow known from time began how nutritious and beneficial this prolific weed is to both human and animal health.

A common saying was ‘a pot of nettles in May is health for a year and a day’. They were commonly used in folk medicine to treat various ailments, arthritis, rheumatism and hay fever and were believed to promote lactation in nursing mothers.

Have you heard of Nettlemas? This was a tradition in parts of County Cork, a particularly fun custom where the boys chased each other and sometimes the girls with nettles on ‘Nettlemas night’ (30^th April) – the night before May Day. Similar traditions existed in parts of the UK, Scotland and Europe.

We have several nettle varieties here in Ireland, red dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum), white dead-nettle (Lamium album), and cut-leaved dead-nettle (Lamium galeopsifolia) but the specific variety I’m referring to in this column is the stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). We’ve all been stung by nettles in the past but since childhood, we’ve known to seek out the trusty dock leaf that will always be growing close by as an antidote to the burning sting.

It goes without saying that it’s necessary to wear rubber gloves when picking. Nettles cannot be eaten raw, but they lose their sting when cooked, dried or blended.

If you just brush lightly against a nettle, they sting but if you grasp them firmly, they won’t sting.

They’re also a brilliant addition to poultry food and the compost heap. They decompose quickly, provide a rich source of nitrogen and are increasingly used for cordage, dying and weaving a natural fabric, similar to linen.

Who knew that the often despised nettle could have so many attributes, one of nature’s most versatile and beneficial plants.

So, once again, a few suggestions for ways to enjoy them in the kitchen – potato and nettle soup, nettle tea, nettle pesto, nettle champ or colcannon, nettle smoothies, nettle and ricotta pizza…

Sneak a few into greens, check out my recipes in earlier columns and here are a few more…

Indian Spiced Stinging Nettle Soup

This is an Indian spiced lentil soup (dal) that tastes brilliantly with the addition of nettles which can of course be swapped out with any seasonal leafy green vegetable e.g., spinach or chard.

Serves 4

Ingredients

50ml extra virgin olive oil

200g onion, diced

3 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

2 tsp freshly roasted and ground cumin

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric

½ tsp black mustard seed

185g red lentils

1 litre homemade chicken stock

150g washed nettle leaves, roughly chopped

1 tsp salt and a pinch of sugar to taste

Garnish

natural yoghurt

fresh coriander leaves

Method

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan, add the chopped onion and sweat until lightly browned. Add the garlic and all of the spices and fry for 1-2 minutes until fragrant and aromatic. Next, add the lentils, chicken stock and washed nettles. Simmer until the lentils are cooked, 10-15 minutes approx.

Add salt and a pinch of sugar to taste.

Delicious served with naan bread and a dollop of natural yoghurt and a sprinkle of coriander leaves.

Spanakopita with Nettles and Spinach

Spanakopita can also be made in individual ‘snails’, but this delicious flaky version comes in a sauté pan. This version is good for a feast as it serves 12-15 people. You can halve the recipe if you’re serving smaller numbers.

Serves 12-15

Ingredients

150g butter

900g leeks, sliced and washed really well

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

500g onions, finely chopped

8 spring onions (both white and green parts), finely sliced

450g nettles, washed and blanched

450g fresh spinach, weighed after the stalks have been removed, washed really well

6 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

6 tbsp chopped dill

350g feta cheese, crumbled

125g Parmesan cheese, grated

4 organic, free-range eggs, beaten

9 sheets of filo pastry, 30 x 43cm (about one packet)

15g melted butter, for brushing

egg wash, made by beating 1 organic, free-range egg with 2-3 tablespoons whole milk

flaky sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and nutmeg

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Melt the butter in a 26cm ovenproof sauté pan and cook the sliced leeks with 2-3 tablespoons of water for 4-5 minutes until tender (older leeks may take slightly longer). Scoop the leeks out of the pan and set aside on a plate while you cook the spinach and blanch the nettles in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in the sauté pan, add the onions and spring onions, and sweat over a low heat for 3-4 minutes, covered, until soft but not coloured. Increase the heat to medium, add the blanched nettles and the spinach and toss well to coat it in the oil. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the chopped parsley and dill, and continue to cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring, until the greens have wilted. Turn out the spinach mixture into a colander and set aside to drain and cool.

Combine the crumbled feta and 100g of the grated Parmesan in a medium bowl and beat in the egg. Add the nettles, well-drained spinach, the leeks and season to taste.

Brushing each sheet of filo with melted butter as you go, layer up the pastry in the base of the sauté pan or roasting dish so that it comes up the sides, leaving enough pastry hanging over the sides to fold over and encase the filling.

Spread the filling evenly over the pastry and bring up the sides of the filo to enclose the filling. Score the top of the pie into a diamond or square pattern and brush all over with the egg wash.  Sprinkle the surface with the remaining 25g grated Parmesan.

Put the sauté pan onto a gas jet at medium, cook for 3-4 minutes or until the pan heats and the base starts to brown.  Transfer to the oven and bake for about 45 minutes until puffed up and golden.

Serve, cut into wedges, while still warm and fluffy.

Roger’s Nettle Beer

A gem from Roger Phillips’ book, Wild Food. It made delicious beer – sweet, fizzy, perfect for summertime.

Makes 12 litres

Ingredients

100 nettle stalks, with leaves

11 litres water

1.3kg granulated sugar

50g cream of tartar

10g live yeast

Method

Boil the nettles in the water for 10 minutes. Strain and add the sugar and the cream of tartar. Heat and stir until dissolved. Remove from the heat and leave until tepid, then add the yeast and stir well. Cover with muslin and leave for several days.

Remove the scum and decant without disturbing the sediment. Bottle, cork and tie down.