Tag: recipe

My Week in Words (with a dollop of pesto)

30th March 2025

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I apologise for being slightly late with last weeks post, I could provide some mildly valid excuses, but I was tired after a long week and spent most of Sunday lazing in the sunshine (after all we must make the most it). The hustle and bustle of last week meant I was somewhat indifferent to doing anything besides sleeping, eating, and taking the dog for a walk. However, I did manage to squeeze in a concise but compelling novel by Ian McEwan, The Comfort of Strangers.

Also in this week’s post: As spring arrives in all its colourful glory, with daisies and daffodils popping their heads through sun kissed grass, I am sharing one of my favourite recipes to make this time of year; wild garlic pesto, made from the fresh young leaves of the plant that grows in abundance on the woodland floor. Remember to always forage responsibly and with permission from the landowner.

The Comfort of Strangers, by Ian McEwan

McEwan has written his way into my list of favourite authors, with a style that can be equally chilling and funny, you never quite know what you are going to get when you pick up one of his novels.

If I could describe The Comfort of Strangers in three words they would be, macabre, intense, nauseating. At just shy of 200 words, it is a short novel, but captivating, and will doubtlessly stay with you long after you have closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. Written in 1981, it was McEwan’s second novel to be published, following an equally thrilling book, The Cement Garden.

In the novel we join Colin and Mary on a city holiday and observe as they try to rekindle lost desire. Sex, arguments about dinner, reconciliation, the silent treatment, a joint every evening, and the odd emotional revelation; it is a strained relationship that unfolds between the pages. The pair spend a few days consuming local delicacies, exploring the tourist hot-spots, drinking, getting lost in the city maze, and then arguing about what direction the local hot-dog stand is in. There is something somewhat familiar, comfortable, about the first chapter of the novel. Though Mary and Colin hardly have a relationship worthy of envy, they are as far as novel characters go, incredibly normal. Flawed. Human. McEwan lays a very clever trap here, luring you into a false sense of security; what possible macabre happening could occur to such a dry and mundane couple? Lost and hungry, they happen upon Robert, a local man with a gold razor blade worn round his neck – mental note: never trust a man, or any human, who wears a razor blade around their neck. They join Robert and his wife, Caroline, in their beautiful house, depicted something like a terraced Venetian dwelling, and thus a series of events unfold that will leave a mark on the couple, and the reader.

The novel strikes an intense chord by unmasking our deepest fears that behind the smile of a stranger, beneath a kind gesture, there lies peril. Of course we spend our lives being warned about the myriad of dangers that threaten us daily; from people we know, people we don’t know, people we love, people we think we know. But of course, it would never happen to me. No-one, even the most mundane among us, is not off limits.

Ultimately The Comfort of Strangers is a beautifully written novel, eerie and sinister to the last word. If you want a light-hearted read, then do not pick this book up. But if you want a chilling read, one to keep the pages turning and stand your hair on end, then this is the book for you.

This Week’s Highlight: Wild Garlic Pesto

As spring arrives in all its colourful glory, with daisies and daffodils popping their heads through sun kissed grass, I am sharing one of my favourite recipes to make this time of year; wild garlic pesto. If you go walking in the woods and notice a familiar, slightly garlicy smell, then it is likely you are near a patch of allium ursinum, more commonly known as wild garlic. This distant relative to the onion grows between late March and July in moist woodland throughout Europe and Asia, and is perfect if you are looking for something to forage.

Note: please forage responsibly in the wild, within the confines of the law, and always considering the responsible foraging guidelines set out by The Woodland Trust.

Ingredients

  • 300g wild garlic
  • 150g basil
  • 75g parmesan
  • 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 100g toasted pine nuts
  • 300ml rapeseed oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Thoroughly wash the wild garlic leaves and leave to dry between layers of kitchen paper or towels.
  2. Once the leaves are mostly dry (don’t worry if they are ever so slightly damp) place them in a large food processor with the lemon juice and rapeseed oil and blend until very finely chopped.
  3. Squeeze in the rest of the lemon juice, the parmesan, the garlic, and pine nuts, blending together until the desired consistency is reached.
  4. Adjust the salt, pepper or lemon juice to taste.
  5. Spoon the pesto into sterilised jars and drizzle a little olive oil over the top.
  6. It can be frozen straight away or kept in the fridge for up to two weeks.
  7. Serve on pasta, with gnocchi, mixed with feta atop a crouton, the opportunities are endless!

Bon Appetit!

Wild Garlic Pesto with Parmesan and Lemon

If you go walking in the woods and notice a familiar, slightly garlicy smell, then it is likely you are near a patch of allium ursinum, more commonly known as Wild Garlic. This distant relative to the onion grows between late March and July in moist woodland throughout Europe and Asia, and is perfect if you are looking for something to forage. Note: please ensure that when you forage in the wild you are doing so within the confines of the law and always bearing in mind the responsible foraging guidelines set out by The Woodland Trust.

Ever since I was a young girl I have wanted to try a recipe using wild garlic, and so when I found a section of our local woodland blanketed in the smooth green leaves, I grabbed a bag and went foraging. When foraging wild garlic it is important to take leaves from different patches, don’t leave one patch bare. Do NOT pull up the bulbs of the plant, this is illegal, instead just break the leaves off at the base of their stem.

Once you have foraged a good amount of wild garlic, the picture on the right came to about 300g, it is important you wash it thoroughly, particularly if your garlic grows along a popular dog walking path! I ran the leaves under the cold tap until all traces of dirt were gone. Then I piled the leaves on a kitchen towel, placed another towel on top and let the leaves sit to dry. You may need to change the towels and dab the leaves with some kitchen roll as they can hold quite a bit of water.

Ingredients

  • 300g wild garlic
  • 75-100g parmesan
  • 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 100g toasted pine nuts
  • 300ml rapeseed oil
  • Salt to taste

Method

  1. Once the leaves are dry, don’t worry if they are ever so slightly damp, place them in a large food processor with a squeeze of lemon juice and whizz until they look finely chopped.
  2. Add in the rapeseed oil and blend until combined.
  3. Squeeze in the rest of the lemon juice, the parmesan, the garlic and the pine nuts. Blend the mixture together, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula every now and then, until the desired consistency is reached.
  4. Taste your pesto and add salt, lemon juice or oil as needed.
  5. Once you are happy with your pesto spoon it into glass jars and drizzle a little olive oil over the top.
  6. It can then be frozen straight away or kept in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Tips

I find the pesto made with only wild garlic quite intense. If I made this again I would probably add in 150g of basil leaves for every 150g of wild garlic. On the other hand my husband loved this recipe and doesn’t want it to change!

If you do find the taste too intense try mixing in a little crème fraîche or soured cream into the pesto before you add it to pasta.

The more parmesan you have the drier your pesto will be. I used 100g of parmesan in my recipe and it was drier than expected. Although delicious I would probably use 75-80g next time for a smoother consistency. Don’t forget you can always add but you can’t take away.

My Mother’s Winter Warmer

My Mother’s Amazing Tomato Soup (Inspired by Gordon Ramsay)

Ingredients
  • 4 tblsp olive oil
  • 1kg plum tomatoes (halved)
  • 1 red onion (sliced)
  • 2 large garlic cloves (halved)
  • Thyme
  • Basil
  • 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
  • 3 sun-dried tomatoes
  • Salt and pepper
Timings

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C (428°F)

  1. Pour the olive oil into a roasting tin and heat in the oven until almost smoking.
  2. Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic and thyme to the tray and coat with the oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the tomatoes are caramelised, turning occasionally. Add the basil to the tray 5 minutes before the end of cooking.
  3. Remove any woody thyme stalks from the tray and add the contents of the tray to a large saucepan. In a second saucepan bring the chicken, or vegetable, stock to a boil and then pour over the tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the sun-dried tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes.
  4. Strain the liquid from the pan, keeping both the liquid and the tomato mixture. Add the tomatoes to a blender and combine, slowly adding the stock, until the soup has reached the desired consistency.
  5. Gordon suggests at this stage to pass the soup through a sieve again for a smoother consistency, however my mother and I have always found the blended soup to be the perfect balance.
  6. Serve the soup with a crusty loaf of bread and enjoy!

Recipe inspired by Gordon Ramsay’s “My Tomato Soup” in “Gordon Ramsay’s Secrets“.