Try Trish Deseine’s Delicious Spring Menu

It’s beginning to look a lot like springtime out there, and there are plenty of ways to will it along in the kitchen. Seasonal goats’ cheeses are hitting the markets, and I for one am looking for other ways of cooking our old friends, celery and cabbage, while waiting for the first tender new season vegetables. It sounds a bit mad, but stuffed cabbage is now cool – in France “Chou Farci” even has its own championship. I’ve moved away from the traditional sausage meat filling to something more veg-forward but of course you can have fun with whatever you fancy in there. The pork dish gives some last, late winter comfort without breaking the bank, and I love serving it in a nostalgic way, with pastry on the side. Make a little too much and save on cooking mid-week! My lemon tiramisu is tart and light, a last celebration of citrus before the welcome arrival of strawberries. @trishdeseineencore

SPRING ONION AND GOAT’S CHEESE TARTLETTES WITH RADISH, TOMATO, CHILLI AND GINGER CONDIMENT

These little puff pastry squares are terrific bases for a super-easy and quick supper, but it’s the crunchy condiment which really brightens them up.

For 4
15 minutes preparation
20 minutes cooking

Ingredients
4 readymade puff pastry squares
150g soft goat’s cheese
6 spring onions
6 radishes
10 cherry tomatoes
1 tsbp pickled ginger
1 tsp chilli jam
2 tsbp olive
Salt and pepper
Fresh coriander to garnish

Method
Heat the oven to 200°C, 190°C Fan/CircoTherm.
Score the pastry squares, without cutting through completely, about 2cm from the edge.
Spread the goat’s cheese in the middle and set the spring onions on top with a little drizzle of olive oil.
Bake for 15 minutes or so, until the pastry has risen and is golden.
Meanwhile, mix the chilli jam with the olive oil. Chop the ginger finely, slice the radishes very thinly, halve the tomatoes and mix everything together. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove the tartlettes from the oven.
Pile them high with the condiment, garnish with coriander and serve.

PORK, CELERY AND CIDER CASSEROLE WITH CHEDDAR SHORTBREAD

You don’t have to restrict the vegetables to just celery here, of course. Any root veg will work nicely too, as would beer instead of cider. Fresh bay and thyme should figure strongly too.

For 4 with leftovers
10 minutes preparation
2 hrs 20 minutes cooking

Ingredients
1.2kg pork shoulder cut into chunks
2 tsbp olive oil
3 onions, peeled and sliced
2 sticks of celery, with a few leaves, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
A sprig of fresh thyme
2 tsbp plain flour (optional)
300ml dry cider
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
Fresh parsley to garnish

Method
Heat the oven to 160°C, 150°C Fan/CircoTherm.
In a heavy-based casserole with a lid, heat the oil and brown the meat, all over. Do this in stages, so as not to crowd the pan and stew the pork!
Remove the meat and reserve. Add a little more oil if necessary and cook the onions, carrot, celery, bay and thyme over medium heat for about 8 minutes. You want them to be a little bit tender, and nicely golden.
Put the pork back in and stir everything together for a minute. Sprinkle with the flour if you are using it, then stir until everything is coated and gently sizzling.
Pour in the stock and the cider, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot for all the tasty goodness. Season and bring to the boil.
Put the lid on and pop the casserole in the oven for 2 hours.
Garnish with parsley, and serve with the cheddar shortbread and mashed carrots and parsnips.

CHEDDAR SHORTBREAD

For 4-6
5 minutes preparation
45 minutes chilling
20 minutes cooking

Ingredients
75g mature cheddar
75g unsalted butter
150g flour
1 egg

Method
Mix all the dry ingredients in the bowl of your mixer.
Add the egg and mix again until a ball of dough forms. Place it on a surface and knead it for about 30 seconds until smooth.
With your hands, roll the dough into a cylinder, as even as possible, about 3cm in diameter with flat ends. Wrap it in a piece of cling film, twisting the film at the ends, and leave in the fridge for 45 min.
Preheat the oven to 180°C, 170°C Fan/CircoTherm.
Then remove the film and cut thick slices about 1cm thick.
Arrange the slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, when the shortbread should start to turn a pale golden colour around the edges.
Remove from the oven and let them cool before serving. Garnish with thyme and sea salt.

SPICY, HERBY STUFFED CABBAGE

You can tie the little parcels with cooking twine if you so wish, but fitting them snugly into the pan works just fine, too. Play with the spices as you wish, but do stick to the dill, mint and parsley trio, which is particularly good with cabbage.

For 4-6
30 minutes preparation
20 minutes cooking

Ingredients
One nice green cabbage
2 shallots
1 clove garlic

Stuffing
300g cooked chickpeas
400g cooked quinoa
200g cooked lentils
50g crushed walnuts
Juice of half a lemon
2 tsps ras el hanout
1 tsbp chopped dill
1 tsbp chopped mint
1 tsbp chopped parsley
Olive oil
200ml vegetable stock

Method
Remove the leaves from the cabbage, you will want around 12 of them.
Heat the oven to 160°C, 150°C Fan/CircoTherm.
Cut out the tough ends of the spines and blanch the leaves in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, until floppy but not soaked through with water.
Remove from the pan carefully and drain in a colander.
Sweat the shallots with the garlic until soft and slightly golden.
Mix all the ingredients of the stuffing together and add a little olive oil to help bind.
Place a spoonful of stuffing at the centre of each cabbage leaf, then fold the sides of the leaf over it, forming a neat parcel. Set into an ovenproof dish or cast iron pan.
Pour the vegetable stock around the parcels and cook for 25 minutes, until the cabbage is tender and the liquid has practically evaporated.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately with a creamy root vegetable mash or polenta.

LEMON AND LIMONCELLO TIRAMISU

Pleasantly boozy, tangy and creamy all at once, this is an easy dessert to prepare ahead. You can reduce the quantities by half per person if you go for the individual glasses rather than the larger serving.

For 6-8
25 minutes preparation
Overnight chilling

Ingredients 

Syrup
150g sugar
Grated zest and juice of 6 lemons
150ml limoncello

Lemon cream
450g mascarpone
100g lemon curd
75ml limoncello
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
250ml double cream
50g icing sugar
2 packets boudoir biscuits (about 40)

Method
First, make the syrup. Put all the ingredients except the limoncello into a saucepan, bring to a boil then simmer for 2 minutes.
Add the Limoncello and stir. Leave to cool completely.
Whisk the mascarpone with the curd, limoncello and fresh lemon juice and zest.
Whisk the cream with the sugar separately, then combine the two creams.
To serve, use a large rectangular dish, or make up individual glasses if you prefer.
Dip the biscuits into the syrup quickly, so they do not become too soaked and mushy.
Set them in the base of the larger dish or crumble them into the bottom of the glasses.
Top with the lemon cream then repeat the operation with the biscuits and a last layer of cream.
Zig zag a little lemon curd through the top of the cream to decorate.
Leave to chill overnight or for at least 5 hours before serving.

Trish Deseine’s Neff induction hob. www.neff-home.com