Early autumn is one of the most generous and comforting times of year to cook with British produce: sweetcorn is at its peak, squash begins to sweeten as the weather cools and bitter leaves such as radicchio provide balance to the season's abundance. The recipes below are simple celebrations of British ingredients, using just a handful of carefully chosen components to let each vegetable shine.
Whether it's a buttery cheese tart for sharing; a fresh, herby corn salad; sweet roast squash with warm, spicy 'nduja; or bitter leaves lifted with a floral dressing, they all rely on cooking with ingredients at their seasonal peak and allowing nature to guide the menu.
Cheese tart
Made for sharing, this tart uses a pastry base with mature cheddar and a custard filling. Prep takes 10 minutes, plus at least 30 minutes chilling, and cooking takes 1 hour. It makes 4 individual tarts.
- 90g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
- 120g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 110g mature cheddar, finely grated
- 70g whole eggs
- 25ml whole milk
- 10g ready-made English mustard, or to taste
- 110ml double cream
- Sea salt and black pepper
First, make the pastry. Rub the butter into the flour until the mix resembles coarse breadcrumbs, then add 60g of the grated cheddar and knead gently until the mix comes together into a dough. Divide into four, wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the custard. Blend the eggs, milk, remaining 50g grated cheddar and mustard until smooth, then stir in the cream by hand and season to taste.
Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4, and grease and line four individual 8-10cm tart tins. Lightly flour a work surface, roll out each piece of pastry, then use to line the tins. Line each pastry base with baking paper, fill with baking beans or similar, then blind bake for 15 minutes, until lightly golden. Lift out the paper and beans, then return the tarts to the oven for a further five minutes, until the bases are crisp and golden.
Carefully pour the custard into each tart case until they're almost full, then bake for another 15-25 minutes, depending on your oven (the actual temperature of domestic ovens varies a fair bit, after all), until the custard is lightly browned and just set with a slight wobble in the centre.
Leave to cool to room temperature, then serve, either with a bitter leaf salad or with one of the following two sides.
Corn salad with soured cream and oregano
This fresh salad pairs sweetcorn with a soured cream base and an oregano oil. Prep takes 5 minutes and cooking takes 15 minutes, serving 4.
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 4 fresh sweetcorn cobs, or 1 400g tin good-quality sweetcorn
- 150g soured cream
- 100ml extra-virgin olive oil
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Sea salt
- 20g fresh oregano leaves, plus extra to garnish
- 30g parmesan, shaved
Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil, drop in the corn cobs, cook for four or five minutes, until tender, then drain and refresh. Once the cobs are cool enough to handle, cut off the kernels and put in a bowl (if you're using tinned corn, skip the blanching stage and simply drain the water from the can).
Mix the soured cream with 20ml of the olive oil, the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Blend the oregano with the remaining olive oil until fragrant. Dress the sweetcorn with the oregano oil, then season generously with salt and a little more lemon juice, if needed.
Spread the soured cream mix over a platter, spoon the dressed corn on top, scatter over a few more oregano leaves and finish with generous shavings of parmesan and a final twist of black pepper.
Roast winter squash with 'nduja
Sweet roast squash gets a warm, spicy kick from 'nduja and honey. Prep takes 10 minutes and cooking takes 45 minutes, serving 4.
- 1kg winter squash (uchiki kuri is ideal, although butternut works well too), halved, deseeded and cut into skin-on wedges
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt
- 20g pumpkin seeds
- 120g 'nduja
- 2 tbsp good-quality honey
- 150g Greek yoghurt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 small handful flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Toss the squash wedges with two tablespoons of the olive oil and a generous pinch of salt, then arrange on an oven tray and roast for 30-40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes, until tender and caramelised. Add the pumpkin seeds to the tray for the final 10 minutes of cooking.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan gently warm the 'nduja, honey and the remaining olive oil until the mix comes together into a loose dressing. In a small bowl, mix the yoghurt with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
Spread the yoghurt on a platter, arrange the squash wedges and toasted pumpkin seeds on top, then spoon over the warm 'nduja dressing. Finish with the parsley and serve.
Radicchio with elderflower vinaigrette
This salad uses bitter leaves with a floral elderflower dressing. Yes, elderflower is an early-summer flavour, but that's why they invented cordial, so we can enjoy that gentle fragrance all year round. Prep takes 10 minutes, serving 4.
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp elderflower cordial
- 2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 2 heads bitter leaves – radicchio, treviso, chicory or endive will all work well here
- 40g hard sheep's cheese, or pecorino
In a small bowl, whisk the oil, cordial, vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste, until lightly emulsified.
Trim the bases off the radicchio heads, then separate the leaves and put them in a medium bowl. Dress the leaves generously with the vinaigrette, then season with a little more salt and pepper if needed. Leave to marinate for five to 10 minutes, so the leaves soften slightly and absorb the dressing, then arrange on a serving plate and finish with generous shavings of the cheese.
Joe Otway is chef/co-owner of Higher Ground, Bar Shrimp and Flawd, all in Manchester.
