Rosie Birkett - The Joyful Home Cook

2 Lightly dust the surface with flour and tip your dough out onto it. Split the dough into two or four, depending on whether you prefer 2 medium flatbreads or 4 small. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball and flatten each one on the surface with the palm of your hand, then roll it out using a rolling pin to your desired thickness and shape – I like these quite thick and pillowy (about 1cm thick).

3 If using a griddle pan, place your flatbread on it and cook over the highest heat for 3–5 minutes on each side, until golden and puffed, then remove from the pan and slather the top with the wild garlic pesto (loosened with the tablespoon of oil first) or butter while the bread’s hot. If using the grill, place the flatbreads under the grill and grill for about 4 minutes, until puffed and golden, then brush the tops with the wild garlic butter or pesto and return to the grill for another minute or two. If you’re cooking them in the wood oven, bake them as you would a pizza and brush them afterwards with the pesto or butter. Eat while still warm.

Waste not, want not allotment greens pasties

with cumin and za’atar

Makes 4

These rustic, meat-free pasties take their lead from Greek spanakopita and are perfect for picnics. They can be made with any combination of greens you like – it’s all about using up whatever you’ve got lurking in your fridge. I came up with them after a meagre and rather random haul of greens from my allotment; a mix of spinach, chard and kale along with some window-box herbs. The cumin in the pastry adds a pleasing earthiness, while the za’atar brings a bright blast of herbaceousness. Serve with a simple tomato salad.

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 slices of preserved lemon, deseeded and finely chopped (shop-bought or (see here)), or grated zest of ½ unwaxed lemon

250g mixed greens (chard, spinach, watercress, kale) and soft herbs (lovage, parsley, dill, basil, tarragon)

1 tbsp lemon juice

75g Fresh Curd Cheese (see here), ricotta or cream cheese

100g feta, camembert or mozzarella, diced or roughly chopped

1 tsp Fermented Green Chillies (see here) or shop-bought pickled green chillies (optional)

nutmeg, for grating

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp za’atar

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pastry

180g light spelt (or plain) flour, and 20g wholegrain rye flour (or 200g spelt or plain flour)

100g ricotta or full-fat natural yoghurt

1 tsp fine sea salt

½ tsp ground cumin

20ml olive oil

1–3 tbsp iced water

1 First, make the pastry. Place the flour(s), ricotta, salt and cumin in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the olive oil and the iced water, a tablespoon at a time, sprinkling it all across the crumb and blitzing between additions until the dough clumps together (you may not need all the water). Tip the dough out into a bowl and mould it into a ball. Wrap it in greaseproof paper (rather than cling film, which makes it sweat) and leave it to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and slide in the onion, garlic and preserved lemon or lemon zest with a pinch of salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, until softened and fragrant but not colouring, then add the greens. Season with salt, pepper and a little lemon juice, put the lid on and let them wilt down for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer the greens to a sieve to drain, pressing down on the greens to get rid of any excess moisture. Roughly chop them, then tip into a bowl, add the cheeses and fermented chillies (if using) and toss to combine, grating over a little fresh nutmeg and salt and pepper. Leave to cool.

3 Remove the pastry from the fridge, unwrap it and divide it into four equal balls, pressing the balls into discs. Dust the surface with flour and roll each ball out to a circle about 20cm in diameter and just a little thinner than a pound coin.

4 Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

5 Fill each circle of pastry with the cooled greens and cheese mix, leaving a 2cm border around the edge of the filling, drizzle over a little more olive oil and fold the pastry around the filling to seal. It’s up to you how you do this. You can either fold one half of pastry over the filling, seal to the other half and crimp like a pasty, or you can fold the edges up into the middle like an envelope or a little bag. Once formed, place on the lined baking sheet and chill for about 10 minutes, until firm.

6 Remove the pies from the fridge and brush them with the beaten egg. Scatter over the za’atar and bake in the oven for 35–40 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and golden.

Asparagus, pea and lovage croquettes

on a garden salad

Serves 4

Broken open, these crunchy, golden croquettes reveal all the joys of spring. Oozing with a vivid green filling of peas, asparagus and fragrant, slightly spicy lovage, they are at once indulgent and virtuous, and serious fun. Here I serve them with a dollop of sour cream but they are also lovely with the homemade mayo (see here).

For the asparagus

420ml salted water

200g asparagus spears, trimmed

juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

For the croquettes

150g frozen peas

25g lovage leaves and stems (or flat-leaf parsley), roughly chopped

40g butter

1 tsp crushed pink peppercorns

150g plain flour

1 tbsp white wine

50g Comté or Gruyère cheese, grated

30g feta, finely crumbled

grated zest of the lemon above

150g panko breadcrumbs

4 eggs

150ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing

For the garden salad

2 handfuls of mixed seasonal leaves (I love sorrel, spinach and nasturtium)

handful of lovage (or flat-leaf parsley), leaves picked

handful of pea shoots

2 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

juice of 2 lemons or 1 tbsp elderflower vinegar (see here)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

150g sour cream

handful of edible flowers (chive, wild garlic or nasturtium work well) (optional)

1 First, cook the asparagus. Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan. Add the asparagus and cook for 3–5 minutes, or until tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and leave to cool slightly. Reserve the water in the pan. Cut away 2cm of the bottom of each spear, very thinly slice and set aside in a bowl – this will go into the croquettes. Place the remaining tips in a separate small bowl and toss with a little of the lemon juice and olive oil for the salad.

2 For the croquettes, bring the asparagus water back up to the boil and add the peas. Cook for 1 minute, then add the lovage. Cook for 30 seconds. Take out 50g of the peas with a slotted spoon, leaving the rest in the pan of cooking water. Put the reserved peas in the bowl with the sliced asparagus set aside for the croquettes. Pour the pan contents – the peas, lovage and cooking water – into the bowl of a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth green liquid – you’re going to use this for the bechamel.