BEETROOT & WALNUT HUMMUS, BABA GANOUSH & GARLIC FLATBREADS (a journey to River Cottage, part 1)

I am unapologetically, unashamedly, unabashedly obsessed with the River Cottage phenomenon and the “real food” philosophy of back-to-basics tour de force Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall! This one-sided love affair began when we (my husband, L and I) were invited to afternoon tea by a friend sometime during the early summer last year. Upon the bookshelf behind me sat a copy of River Cottage Veg Every Day and, flicking through its inspirational pages, I became smitten. Upon returning home, we immediately ordered the book online and now, almost a year later, it has become somewhat of a food bible in our home and definitely my go-to cook book when it comes to savoury inspiration. Recently I stumbled across some youtube playlists featuring episodes of the various River Cottage series, one of which happened to be dedicated to veg and Hugh’s 4 month commitment to go meat-free. One episode began with this great intro:

“I think it’s increasingly obvious that, here in the West, we are producing and consuming too much meat; too much for our health, too much for the planet to cope with and way too much for the welfare of the animals that we kill for meat to be anything like what it should be. So for one summer, I’m casting off my carnivorous ways to live off the goodness of the garden. And I can honestly say that rather than a limitation, it’s been a liberation. I’m enjoying my vegetables more than ever. I’m relishing them more than ever before. And I guess that’s because I am just paying them so much more attention. I mean, they’re all that I’m eating and I like my food, therefore the vegetables that I’m eating get a lot of attention.”

I couldn’t agree more with Hugh’s sentiments. It worries me that I am raising two children in a world where bananas can be bought ready-peeled (!) and where people are disgusted by the thought of where meat comes from or handling it themselves, but will happily gorge themselves on 3 meals a day containing processed and insanely unhealthy meat products produced in the most unethical of manners. My family is omnivorous, but I am determined that my children are raised to make informed and healthy conscious decisions regarding the food they consume. I want them to be exposed to a variety of cuisines, to be able to handle and cook food themselves, to know how food is produced and where it comes from, to grow some of their own food and to develop a palette for a wide range of healthy flavours. I want them to have a respect for food, for the environment and for their own little growing bodies.

Living in an urban environment, I feel I need to be a little more creative and vigilant when it comes to my own consumer choices at times. After all, even though it’s known that convenience doesn’t always/often equal “healthy”, a busy schedule can easily lead one astray in the food department. L attends a nursery school where the menu is varied. He’ll eat Swedish meatballs one day and leek and potato soup the next. I have little to no say in what is served there (and can only be grateful that they have a chef on premises who prepares fresh, balanced meals for the children daily), but I do have a say in the choices we make at home. So when my little boy requests quinoa/almond milk/broccoli/tomatoes or when he points out loudly that something is “organic!” or exclaims that he “likes vitamins”, my heart sings and I feel like we are doing something right. We are not really a “crunchy” family (although we are no doubt crunchy-sympathetic), and I bake sweet treats, buy takeaway meals sometimes and like my comfort foods, but I do try to opt for the healthier choices available within certain parameters. Hugh’s approach to food appeals to me for the same reason as Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day does; because it doesn’t exclude, it is common sense, inspiring and accessible… even for those of us who dwell in cities. And so, in lieu of being able to convince my husband to pack up and move to Dorset to start our own smallholding, I content myself with starting an urban kitchen garden, tweaking recipes and recreating dishes from River Cottage… and I plan to share my Hugh-inspired culinary adventures in a series of posts, the first of which you are reading now…

BEETROOT & WALNUT HUMMUS

As a “traditional hummus” fan, I was keen to give this unusual version a go and, to be honest, I am not sure which version of hummus I now prefer! The beetroot imparts a lovely, subtle sweetness and the walnuts add fabulous texture and depth of flavour. Combined with the usual hummus suspects (tahini, garlic, lemon, cumin), this gorgeous, brightly coloured and delicious dip is sure to please.

INGREDIENTS

50 g organic walnuts
1/2 tbsp ground cumin (or more if you like)
15 g gluten-free bread crumbs
200 g cooked organic beetroot, cut into cubes
1 tbsp organic tahini (smooth nut butter works too)
1 large organic garlic clove, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
A dash of organic olive or rapeseed oil
Salt and black pepper to season

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Toast walnuts on a baking tray in the oven for around 5 minutes. Leave to cool.
2. Put the walnuts in a food processor and blitz. Add the beetroot, breadcrumbs, tahini, 1/2 a tablespoon of oil plus most of the garlic, cumin and lemon. Season with salt and pepper. Blend to a thick paste. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly by adding more cumin/garlic/salt/pepper/lemon juice if necessary. Add a little more oil if needed.
3. Refrigerate until needed. It will keep for a few days. Serve at room temperature.

*Original recipe from River Cottage Veg Every Day, by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
*I made my version with gluten-free breadcrumbs as I had some on hand, but by all means, blitz your own stale bread to make some if you prefer.
*The original recipe calls for fresh cumin seeds, which I did not have so ground cumin had to suffice.

BABA GANOUSH

I think of baba ganoush as being a “gateway dish” to exposure to aubergine . Flavourful, simple and a touch exotic, Hugh’s version is a fab dip or sandwich addition.

INGREDIENTS

4 medium aubergines (approx. 1 kg)
1 clove organic garlic, crushed
2 tbsp organic tahini (smooth nut butter works too)
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and black pepper to season

FINISHING INGREDIENTS

A handful of fresh, organic parsley, chopped
Organic rapeseed or olive oil to drizzle over
1-2 tsp ground cumin

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat grill (high). Prick aubergines a couple of times with a fork then lay them on a tray lined with foil and grill, turning regularly, until the skin is blackened all over and the flesh is soft (this takes around 10 minutes). Let rest until cool enough to handle, then peel off the skin.
2. Place the flesh into a colander, roughly chop up with a small knife and allow to drain and cool completely.
3. In a food processor, blitz the aubergine, garlic, tahini, lemon juice and a good amount of salt and pepper until puréed. Taste and add more lemon juice and seasoning if you wish.
4. Serve drizzled with oil, scattered with parsley and dusted with cumin.

*Recipe from River Cottage Veg Every Day, by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

GARLIC FLATBREADS

Two delicious dips require an equally yummy partner, and a warm, tasty slice of garlic flatbread is just the ticket! This recipe should make 8 flatbreads and is based around Hugh’s amazing and aptly named recipe for “Magic Bread Dough”.

MAGIC BREAD DOUGH INGREDIENTS

250 g plain organic white flour
250 g strong organic white flour
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp instant dried yeast
1 tbsp organic rapeseed/olive oil, plus a little extra

MAGIC BREAD DOUGH DIRECTIONS

1. Combine flours into a large bowl with salt and yeast. Mix well. Add the oil and 325 ml warm water and mix to form a rough dough.
2. Flour your hands. Tip out the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead for 5–10 minutes, until smooth. This should be quite sticky dough, so try not to add too much flour. Kneading will make it less sticky and easier to work with.
3. Trickle a little oil into a clean bowl, place the kneaded dough in it and turn it in the oil to cover with a light film. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size (1-2 hours).

GARLIC OIL INGREDIENTS

Approx. 100 ml organic olive oil
1 large organic garlic clove, finely chopped

GARLIC FLATBREAD DIRECTIONS 

1. Make the garlic oil by combining oil and garlic in a pan over a medium heat. Do not fry the garlic! As soon as you note any sizzling, pour the oil and garlic into a small bowl and leave to cool.
2. Punch down the risen dough and divide into balls of about 125 g each (or the size of a lemon), roll out into rough circle shapes of a 2 mm thickness. Let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Heat a non-stick pan over a very high heat until smoking hot. Cook flatbreads one at a time by laying each in the pan for about 2 minutes until they bubble on top and are browned/blackened in patches underneath, then flip and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.
4. Remove, trickle with garlic-infused oil and crush over a little flaky sea salt. I also added a sprinkling of fresh parsley which was lovely. Cut flatbreads into wedges to serve.

*Recipe from River Cottage Veg Every Day, by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
*I have actually frozen quantities of dough for rolling out/baking later on. It still works and is a real time-saver if you find you have dough left over!