Tart London’s Bank Holiday Recipes
When we visited Jemima Jones and Lucy Carr-Ellison, the co-founders of catering company Tart London, we were met with a veritable feast for the senses. Beautifully served on a table in Jemima’s Somerset garden using some of our favourite tableware pieces, the colourful sharing plates were a perfect summation of Tart London’s unique culinary ethos: delicious, seasonal dishes boasting a medley of flavours, textures and colours. “We wanted to go very much in our style, which is lots of sharing plates,” Jemima says of the menu. “It was really wonderful to be able to use lots of seasonal vegetables and create a big summery spread of food, with lots of salads, colour and flavour.” If you’re looking for August bank holiday recipes, you’re in luck – the friends have shared three of their favourites from our feast, so you can recreate them at home. Pair with a chilled glass of rosé and your prettiest crockery.
Courgettes with Goat’s Curd and a Crunchy Spiced Oil
Ingredients
Serves five
150g soft goat’s cheese
2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
4 courgettes (or 6 small ones) – lovely to use both yellow and green courgettes.
1 lemon, zest and juice
A selection of herbs (it’s nice to have a mix and keep it rustic). We use mint, dill and coriander, but you could substitute them for tarragon, basil and parsley.
For the crunchy oil
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp nigella seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp chopped pine nuts
2 tsp chopped almonds
1 red chilli, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Method
1. Start by making your crunchy oil. Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat and then add the spices, nuts, chilli and garlic – allow to sizzle for a few minutes until fragrant and golden, making sure not to burn the garlic. Then take off the heat and allow to cool and infuse. Make extra if you like and store in a glass sealed jar – it’s delicious with so many dishes.
2. Next make your simple goat’s curd – whizz the soft goat’s cheese with two tablespoons of yogurt in a blender until silky smooth (you can use a hand-held blender, or even just beat it with a whisk). Leave to one side.
3. Thinly slice your courgettes lengthways, ideally with a shaver to get beautiful ribbons. Once shaved, toss in a bowl with a good squeeze of lemon and the zest, and season to taste.
4. Plate up on a serving dish with the smooth goat’s curd first, generously smeared across the plate, then add a big handful of the courgette ribbons, lashings of the crunchy oil and then roughly torn herbs over the top – beautiful coriander stems and leaves, dill and torn mint leaves.
Barbecue-Braised Artichokes with a Preserved Lemon Salsa Verde
Ingredients
Serves 5
For the artichokes
5 globe artichokes
250ml white wine
100ml water
100ml olive oil
3 bay leaves
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1 shallot, finely diced
1 lemon, juice and sliced rind
A few sprigs of thyme (other herbs welcome – lovely with rosemary and sage)
Sea salt, pinch
Pepper, pinch
For the salsa verde
1 shallot, minced
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp minced preserved lemon rind (or lemon zest)
4 tbsp olive oil
1 green chilli, minced (optional)
½ tbsp cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar
Small bunch of coriander, finely chopped
Small bunch of mint, finely chopped
Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
Method
1. Fill a bowl with lemony water and place to one side while you prepare the artichokes. With a peeler, cut away the thicker outer layer of the stems, and then trim the stems to three inches from the base. Cut off and discard the top inch of the artichoke, peel away the tough outer leaves and snip the spiky tops of the leaves (for nice presentation). Cut the artichokes in half and then use a metal spoon to scoop out the fuzzy chokes. Then place these into the lemony water to prevent from browning.
2. Fill a large pot with your braising ingredients and the artichokes and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and allow them to slowly braise with the lid until you can easily pierce the heart with a knife – around 20 minutes, but may be less or more depending on the size. You could do this section the day before and allow the artichokes to sit in the delicious braising juices in the fridge overnight.
3. Prepare your barbecue or grill, and place the artichokes cut side down on the grill for 5-10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the salsa verde by mixing the ingredients together in a bowl. Season to taste.
5. Plate up on a lovely platter with the artichokes piled up and the salsa verde generously spooned over the top.
Summer Cake with Elderflower Cream
Ingredients
250g soft butter
250g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod or a tsp of vanilla extract
4 eggs, beaten
100g natural yoghurt
250g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
For the cream
800ml double cream
200g mascarpone
3 tbsp elderflower cordial
500g of fresh fruit of choice, such as strawberries (chopped if large), raspberries, blackcurrants, blackberries
Mint
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C. Line two 22cm cake tins.
2. Beat together the soft butter, caster sugar and the vanilla pod (slice the pod down the middle and scrape out the seeds; you can discard the outer pod).
3. Gradually add the eggs, and then the yoghurt. Then gently fold in the sieved flour and the baking powder.
4. Spoon the cake mix into the cake tins and place into the oven. Cook for about 30-35 minutes until golden and bouncy to touch. Place on a wire rack and leave to cool.
5. Put the double cream, mascarpone and elderflower cordial into a bowl and beat using an electric whisk until it is just thick enough to hold its shape (you can add icing sugar if you prefer your icing slightly sweeter).
6. Place the base of your cake onto a serving platter and spoon over a third of the icing and add a third of the fruit. Spoon the rest of the cream mixture on top and finish with the rest of the fruit and mint.
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