20 best slow food recipes: part 3 (2024)

April Bloomfield’s green pea and ham soup

I’ve eaten split pea and ham soup for as long as I can remember. On chilly days when my dad was being stingy with the heat, it especially hit the spot. But this concept is just as good when sugary fresh peas show up at the farmer’s market. Although I must admit that I rarely feel like shelling peas at home after a long day in the kitchen, and I love frozen peas, which are consistently fine, so that’s what I call for here.

The finished dish is bright green and sweet, with little chunks of ham, carrots, and cool white blobs of crème fraîche floating on its surface.

Serves 4
For the broth
meaty smoked ham hocks 900g
Spanish onion ½ medium, halved
celery stalks 3 small, roughly chopped
carrot ½ medium, peeled, roughly chopped
garlic 1 head, halved horizontally, not peeled
fresh bay leaf 1, or ½ dried
black peppercorns 6

For the soup
unsalted butter 60g
Spanish onion small, finely chopped
carrot 1 small, peeled and cut into 1cm pieces
Maldon 2 tsp or another flaky sea salt
dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc, 100ml
mint leaves five-fingered pinch, plus some torn leaves for finishing
Birds Eye frozen baby peas two 340g packages
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
crème fraîche 3 or 4 tbsp

Make the broth: combine the hocks, vegetables, bay leaf, peppercorns, and 2 litres water in a medium stockpot and bring to the boil over high heat. Turn the heat to low, put the lid on, and cook at a nice steady simmer until the meat on the hocks is so tender it’s almost falling off the bone, 4 to 5 hours.

Carefully remove the hocks and put them in a big bowl. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into the bowl, and discard the vegetables and aromatics. Let the hocks cool in the liquid.

When the hocks are cool enough to handle, pull off the meat in bite-sized chunks. Discard the bones and any hard bits and some of the fat, but don’t throw away the skin – I add the skin to the soup in thin slices, along with the chunks of ham. You don’t have to, but I like the way it goes sticky in the soup. You can keep the stock and meat (moistened with a splash of stock) in separate airtight containers in the fridge for up to two days.

Gently warm the meat and skin before proceeding with the recipe. This recipe requires only 1 litre of stock – you may freeze the leftover stock for up to a month for your next batch of soup.

Make the soup: put the butter in a large pot that has a lid and set it over medium heat. Once the butter starts to froth, add the onion, carrot, and salt and stir. Cover the pot and cook, stirring every now and again, until the onions are soft and creamy (but not coloured) and the carrots are tender but firm, about 15 minutes.

Add the wine and bring it to the boil (turn the heat up if you need to). Let the wine boil until it’s all but gone, about 5 minutes. Add the mint and 1 litre of the ham broth and bring the liquid to the boil, then add the peas. (At this point, the carrots will have bobbed to the top. I like to pick out most of the carrot chunks before puréeing the soup, then add them back after. That way, you can nibble on them in the soup, getting that bit of texture.) Cook at a simmer until the peas are warmed through and tender, about 5 minutes.

Blend the pot’s contents, in batches, until smooth. Return all the bright-green pea purée to the large pot, add the ham pieces and carrots, and cook at a very gentle simmer for about 5 minutes, just to let the flavours mingle and heat the ham. Have a taste, and season with salt. How much you need will depend on how salty the hocks are.

Add a generous drizzle of olive oil, several twists of black pepper, and the torn mint leaves. Then add the crème fraîche in little blobs here and there, so everyone will get a bit. Serve the soup in the pot, with small bowls alongside.

Matthew Harris’s jambon persillé with sauce gribiche

Serves 6–10
ham hocks 2
pig’s trotters 2 (optional)
carrots 2 large, cut into 4cm chunks
onions 2, cut into 4cm chunks
leek 1, cut into 4cm chunks
celery 4 sticks, cut into 4cm chunks
thyme 1 sprig
bay leaves 4
garlic cloves 3
white peppercorns 1 tsp
white wine vinegar 50ml
flat-leaf parsley leaves 2 bunches, chopped
nutmeg ¼ tsp, grated
gelatine 12–14 leaves, 2g each

Sauce gribiche
capers 1 tbsp, finely chopped
cornichons 12, finely chopped
hard-boiled eggs 2
egg yolks 3
Dijon mustard 1 tbsp
red wine vinegar 2 tbsp
groundnut oil 300ml
flat-leaf parsley 1 tbsp, chopped
tarragon 1 tbsp, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the ham hocks, pig’s trotters (if using), the vegetables, thyme, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns and vinegar into a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer. After 20 minutes remove the scum that has risen to the surface with a ladle. Allow the hocks to simmer gently for 3–4 hours until cooked. You can tell when they are done because you will be able to pull out the small bone (next to the big bone) easily. Incidentally, in France this little bone is referred to as the mustard spoon due to its convenient shape.

Remove the hocks and trotters if you are using them (I do recommend using them as they will improve the flavour and also increase the gelatinousness of the stock, so less gelatine will need to be added at the end), and allow to cool to handling temperature.

Meanwhile, strain the cooking liquid through a fine sieve and discard the vegetables.

Return the liquid to the stove. Remove any fat on the surface with a ladle and then bring the stock to the boil and allow it to reduce. You must be careful now because this will be the jelly so you must taste it regularly as it reduces, and when it is strong in flavour but not too salty remove it from the heat. If it gets too salty then add a little water until the salt level is to your liking. You will need 1 litre of this stock to make the jelly; keep warm.

Return to the hocks and, with your hands, remove the skin and fat and put to one side. Now break up the pieces of meat into 3cm bits. Pick through the trotters as well and you will get some little bits of meat from them, too. Put the ham pieces in a large bowl. If you like a bit of fat and skin then add a few small pieces, too. Add the parsley, nutmeg and a few twists of ground pepper.

Next, fill a 1.5kg terrine mould with the ham/parsley mixture but do not push it down, you need gaps for the jelly to get into. Set aside.

To make the jelly, if you have used trotters, 12 leaves of gelatine should be enough, if not use 14 leaves. Allow the gelatine leaves to soften in cold water then remove them and stir into the measured warm stock until completely dissolved.

Pour this over the ham until the terrine is completely full. You may well have leftover jelly. Now refrigerate the jambon persillé overnight.

To make the sauce gribiche, first, place the capers and cornichons in a bowl. Into this grate the hard-boiled eggs, using the large holes on the grater. In another bowl, place the egg yolks, mustard and red wine vinegar and whisk until well mixed. Start adding the oil in a thin stream whilst continuing to whisk, as for mayonnaise. The oil will emulsify with the yolks producing a creamy mayonnaise. When all is added stir into the grated egg, the capers and cornichons. Add the herbs and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Bruce Poole’s slow-roast shoulder of lamb with harissa, spiced pilaf rice and yoghurt

Serves 5–6 as a main course
shoulder of lamb 1 large – about 2kg
rose harissa 1 x 90g jar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
heads of garlic 2, kept whole, plus 3 extra cloves, peeled and minced
olive oil
lemon 1, quartered, plus 1 extra for squeezing
cucumber ½
thick Greek-style yoghurt 125g tub
fresh mint 1 bunch, leaves picked and chopped
onions 3 large
vegetable oil
sultanas or chopped dried apricots 100g
ground cumin 1 heaped dsp
ground allspice 1 heaped dsp
saffron threads a large pinch – about 12
caster sugar
basmati rice 400g
cold water 500ml
coriander 1 bunch, leaves picked and chopped
flaked almonds 100g, toasted

A good 4 hours before eating, set the oven to 175C/gas mark 4. Rub the shoulder of lamb with half the jar of harissa and season really well with salt – it shouldn’t need any extra pepper. Chop the whole heads of garlic in half and arrange in the bottom of a good solid roasting pan. Sprinkle with a little olive oil and throw in the lemon quarters. Mix all together and season with salt. Place the lamb shoulder on top of the garlic and lemon and roast in the oven for about 25 minutes. Turn the oven down to 130C/gas mark 1 and roast for a further 3½ hours. Baste occasionally and cover with foil if the harissa begins to burn, but it shouldn’t do at this temperature. The meat will be very tender and soft to the touch when cooked. When the lamb is cooked, turn the oven off with the door slightly ajar and leave the joint inside the cooling oven. Put the plates in to warm.

Peel the cucumber as lightly as possible to retain its greenness. Quarter lengthways and discard the watery seeds. Chop the remaining flesh into 3mm cubes and place in a colander set over the sink. Season with salt, rub the salt in well and leave for half an hour. Put the yoghurt into a mixing bowl and stir in the salted cucumber. Season the yoghurt with a little extra salt and plenty of pepper. Stir in half the chopped mint and a generous squeeze of lemon juice and set aside.

If making well in advance, refrigerate until needed and take out of the fridge shortly before serving. Otherwise it’s fine left at room temperature.

At this stage, start the pilaf and the serving time will be about an hour hence. Peel and finely slice the onions. Take a large heavy pan with a tight-fitting lid and set it over a brisk heat for 2 minutes. Add a generous slurp of vegetable oil, the onions, minced garlic and the sultanas or apricots. Fry this over a high heat, stirring all the while, until the onions begin to soften and catch – 10 minutes or so. Add the ground cumin, allspice, saffron, a heaped teaspoon of harissa and a generous pinch of sugar. Fry this mixture briskly for another 5 minutes, adding a little more oil if necessary, scraping the bottom of the pan as you go.

Add the rice and cook for a further 2–3 minutes, so that all the rice is coated in the spiced onion mixture. Add two or three generous pinches of salt and stir. Add the water. The water will seethe and splutter at first. Cover with the lid and bring back to a simmer. Try not to remove the lid completely to check when this point has been reached, but take a cheeky peek every now and then. The idea is to retain as much steam as possible. When the rice has come back to a simmer, immediately turn the heat down to its lowest setting and leave for exactly 15 minutes. After this time, turn off the heat and leave the rice for at least half an hour without lifting the lid.

When you are ready to serve, remove the lamb from the oven. Lift the lamb on to a carving board and pull the meat from the bone using a knife and fork. Remove the lid from the rice and stir well. Check the seasoning – it will almost certainly need more salt and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Stir in the coriander and remaining mint. Scatter the toasted almonds over and take to the table.

Divide the lamb between the warmed plates, being sure to serve some of the roasted garlic and meaty, red harissa juices. Let folk help themselves to rice and hand the yoghurt around separately.

From Bruce’s Cookbook by Bruce Poole (HarperCollins, RRP £25)

Rory O’Connell’s roast chicken with bread and thyme leaf sauce and redcurrant sauce

Roast chicken is many people’s desert island dish: crisp and golden skin, juicy and tender flesh, and the bits that go with it to complete the picture, such as gravy, roast potatoes, maybe a bread stuffing and so on.

Serves 4–6
soft butter 10g
free-range chicken 1, about 2kg
Malden sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
lemon 1
thyme 1 large sprig
chicken stock 500ml

For the bread and thyme leaf sauce
full-fat milk 450ml
white breadcrumbs 110g
onion 1, studded with 2 cloves
thyme 1 large sprig
butter 50g
regular or double cream 50ml
For the redcurrant sauce
redcurrants 110g, fresh or frozen
caster or granulated sugar 170g
water 120ml

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4· Smear the soft butter over the chicken skin and season with salt and pepper. Prick the lemon a few times with a skewer or a needle and push into the chicken cavity with the sprig of thyme.

Place in a roasting tin, put into the oven, and roast for 1½ hours. Check to ensure that the chicken is fully cooked before removing it from the oven. There should be no trace of pink in the flesh between the thigh and breast, and the juices should be running clear. Lower the oven temperature to 100C/gas mark ¼. Put the chicken on a platter and replace it in the warm oven.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the two sauces. For the bread sauce, place the milk, breadcrumbs, onion, thyme and butter in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook on a very low heat for 30 minutes. Give it a stir two or three times during the cooking to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Remove from the heat. The sauce can be made up to this point several hours ahead and will be reheated and finished just before serving.

Place the redcurrants, sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir gently to dissolve the sugar and continue to cook on a gentle heat for 5 minutes more. The sauce will look quite thin, but thickens slightly as it cools. This sauce can also be made several hours or indeed days ahead.

To make the chicken gravy, degrease the roasting tin by straining off the fatty liquid into a small bowl. Place the bowl in the freezer to encourage the fat to set on top, so that you can remove it and get at the chicken juices for adding to the gravy. Deglaze the tin with chicken stock, scraping the bottom of the tin with a whisk or wooden spoon to dissolve the caramelised meat juices into the gravy. Season with salt and pepper.

Strain the gravy into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. You could squeeze a very little of the juice from the collapsed lemon inside the chicken into the gravy if that appeals to you. Taste, and if the flavour is thin and light, continue to cook to reduce the liquid and concentrate the flavour.

To serve, carve the chicken on to hot plates or one large hot platter and keep warm. Place the bread sauce back on the heat and remove the onion and the thyme stalk. Many of the leaves will have fallen off the thyme into the sauce. That’s perfect. They are exactly where you want them to be. Add the cream and about 4 tablespoons of the chicken gravy and stir to mix well. The consistency of the sauce should be neither too thick nor too thin but like softly whipped cream. Bring to a simmer, taste and correct the seasoning and place in a heated sauce boat.

Finally, remove the fat from the chilled chicken juices and save for roasting potatoes or vegetables another day. Add the juices to the gravy. Bring to a simmer.

Serve the carved chicken with the bubbling gravy and the two sauces on the side.

From Master It: How To Cook Today by Rory O’Connell (HarperCollins, RRP £25). Click here to buy it for £21.25 from the Guardian Bookshop