Hello everybody!
The weather is warming up, but that does not mean we are ditching our favourite comfort foods. Instead, this week I am just loading them up with my favourite spring veg.
Free subscribers will get a recipe for my cauliflower macaroni cheese - we aren’t reinventing the wheel here, but it’s a meal I crave when I’m especially knackered, and one that you might like too. Paid subscribers will get the recipe for my sausage and wild garlic lasagne, which I served up at my supper club last night, and it went down an absolute treat, so I hope you like it too.
You’ll also get the lowdown on a book I loved, some homeware I have my eye on, and my new favourite non-alcoholic beer.
Enjoy!
Sophie x
The Recipes
Cauliflower Macaroni Cheese
Macaroni cheese is one of my all time favourite comfort dinners. I tend to like adding a vegetable to it to get some more nutrients involved, but this will change depending on the season. Cauliflower is great at this time of year, but you could swap it out for roasted cherry tomatoes in the summer, or roasted cubes of squash in the autumn.
Before you come for me, no I haven’t used macaroni. Cavatappi is a fun, spiral shape a bit like macaroni, just longer, and is great in this scenario, but I also love conchiglie. Ultimately this a relaxed, comfort dinner, so just use whichever short pasta shape you have in the cupboard that floats your boat.
Serves 4
½ cauliflower
90g butter
90g flour
1l whole milk
200g grated mature cheddar
1 tsp English mustard
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Lots of fresh nutmeg
250g cavatappi, conchiglie or macaroni
125g mozzarella
50g sourdough bread
1 large sprig of rosemary
salt, pepper and olive oil
Heat your oven to 190°C fan.
Cut your cauliflower into florets, breaking up any really large ones, and chop your stalks into equal size chunks. Add these both to a 31cm x 25 cm baking dish, and drizzle with a little oil and salt. Roast for 15 minutes.
Add your cauliflower leaves to the tray, and roast for another 10 minutes.
Melt your butter in a saute pan over a medium heat. Add your flour, and cook out for 2 minutes, until it smells biscuity. Gradually pour in your milk, whisking until it is smooth before adding more. Once all the milk is added, bring it up to a boil, and simmer for 3 minutes to thicken.
Bring a large pan of salted water up to a boil. Pour in your cavatappi, and cook for 5 minutes.
Turn your sauce off the heat, and add your grated cheddar, mustard, cayenne pepper and nutmeg. Give it a mix, then season to taste with salt and lots of black pepper. Lift your pasta into the sauce with a slotted spoon, add your roasted cauliflower, and give it a mix. Tear your mozzarella into little pieces, and mix that through too.
Cut your bread into cubes, then add it to a blender with your rosemary leaves. Blitz it into breadcrumbs.
Tip the mixture into the cauliflower roasting tray. Top with your rosemary breadcrumbs, then bake for 25 minutes until crispy. Serve it up.
Sausage and Wild Garlic Lasagne
Wild garlic season is short, but it is in full pelt around the UK right now. I’ve talked about it for the last couple of years in the newsletter, but it is worth touching base again about what you should be doing with your this very trendy allium:
Picking it from as far off a path as possible to avoid dog wee contamination
Giving it a really good wash in cold water
Blanching it in boiling water, then refreshing it in ice water to kill any leftover germs. The iced water stops it cooking and keeps it really green.
I find my wild garlic in Crystal Palace Park, and other South London reported sightings include Sydenhem Woods and Nunhead Cemetery. Wooded areas are generally where to look for it - you can normally smell the pungent, allium-ness as you approach. Try not to over pick, as this damages its regrowth potential, and also means less people get to enjoy its goodness. The flavour is punchy, so to make the pesto here, I combine it with other greens, so you don’t need to use too much.
You can of course buy it too, via vendors like Natoora, who sell through their own platform, or through Ocado and Waitrose.
Serves 6