A fabulous four course meal for Mum, created by Celia Brooks
I count my abundant blessings every day. One such blessing is that my mum is still in my life. She’s my role model - a real firecracker - soon to be a great-grandmother. For her, her greatest achievement in life was raising her three daughters, and I’m the youngest.
I’m constantly looking for ways to pay her back, for all the messes, stresses, rejected meals, tantrums, and sleepless nights I inflicted on her as a child. I feel nothing will ever be enough. But, one thing that she absolutely adores is being cooked for.
Whenever I visit her, I throw myself headlong into pampering her with food. Sometimes I’ll rope in the whole family as sous chefs to create a fancy feast. Other times, I’ll prepare something exquisitely simple on my own to nourish and delight her. She is never disappointed - at least she never tells me if she is. I can never truly repay the debt, but eating together is a balm for our souls.
Here’s a simple but impressive four-course meal to honour and thrill your mum. You won’t need an army of sous chefs, but kids and grandkids can certainly keep their little hands busy assembling canapés, deseeding peppers, picking sage, or smashing meringues.
My menu to serve four people:
Canapé: Truffle & artichoke crostini
Starter: Double tomato & lentil stuffed peppers
Main: Roasted radicchio & pasta with sage & walnut pesto
Dessert: Rhubarb rose Eton Mess
Canapé: Truffle & Artichoke Crostini
Serves 4 / Prep 15 minutes / Cook 8 minutes
White truffle pairs beautifully with artichokes for this elegant canapé. Seek out the thinnest fresh or ready-to bake baguette you can find, so you can make bite-size slices. Alternatively, use a bite-size cracker or savoury wafer.
Ingredients
1 thin baguette, sliced into 8-12 tiny rounds or semi-rounds
Zero Italian extra virgin olive oil*
1 small jar truffle paste*
1 jar artichoke hearts in oil*
Freshly ground black pepper and chopped parsley, to finish (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the bread slices on a lined baking sheet and brush very lightly with oil. Bake until light golden, about 5-8 minutes. Cool.
Use a teaspoon to top each of the crostini with a light layer of truffle paste, then finish with an artichoke quarter on each. Finish with black pepper and a little chopped parsley, if desired.
* these fabulous ingredients are found in the wonderful Super Veg Cookery Hamper.
Starter: Double Tomato & Lentil Stuffed Peppers
From "Super Veg" by Celia Brooks
Image credit: Jean Cazals and Murdoch Books
Serves 4 as a starter / Prep 20 mins / Cook 35 mins
Sweet pepper halves act like miniature edible roasting dishes, flavouring its stuffing contents with its delectable juices. Here the lentils become particularly succulent, infused with Mediterranean deliciousness. This can be made well ahead and served warm or at room temperature. Decorate each plate with a few rocket leaves, if desired.
Ingredients
2 large round red, yellow or orange sweet peppers (or mixed colours)
200g cooked Puy, green, brown or black lentils
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato tapenade* or 2 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
12 rosemary & garlic olives* or other olives in oil
8 basil leaves, torn
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons Zero Italian extra virgin olive oil*
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 plum or vine tomatoes
Method
1) Preheat oven to 200C. Cut the peppers in half from stem to base, cutting right through the stem, leaving it attached. Carve out the seeds and membranes and discard. Lay the pepper halves cut side up in a baking dish.
2) Place the cooked lentils in a bowl. Add the garlic, sun-dried tomato tapenade or sun-dried tomatoes, 4 leaves of torn basil, salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons of the oil and 2 teaspoons of balsamic. Mix very thoroughly, then divide the mixture amongst the pepper halves, filling them equally. Add 3 olives each on top. Gently press the surface to compact the filling.
3) Slice the tomatoes 5mm / ¼ inch thick into 8 slices, reserving the ends for another use. Place the tomato slices over the lentils to cover as much as possible, tucking them inside the pepper edges. Top with another torn basil leaf, half a tablespoon of oil each and ½ teaspoon balsamic, and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the peppers so they sit as level as possible to keep the juice in while baking – it might help to nestle them together.
4) Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, until the peppers are very soft and sizzling. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, with any pan juices poured on.
* these fabulous ingredients are found in the wonderful Super Veg Cookery Hamper.
Main: Roasted radicchio & pasta with sage & walnut pesto
From "Super Veg" by Celia Brooks
Image credit: Jean Cazals and Murdoch Books
Serves 4 / Prep 15 mins / Cook 15 mins
Rustic and ravishing purple wedges of radicchio crown this generous and deeply flavourful pasta platter. Blanching the radicchio lessens its bitterness and gives it a well-seasoned and juicy texture, but you can leave out this step if you (and all your diners) really love that bitter edge, and roast it from raw. The blanching turns the water a strange colour, and even though it strips the bitterness, it doesn’t transfer it to the pasta, so you can reuse the same water for cooking the pasta.
Ingredients
500g radicchio (about 2 - 3 large)
2 tablespoons Zero Italian extra virgin olive oil*
cooking salt, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
250g bronze-drawn slow dried rigatoni* or other large pasta shapes
For the pesto:
75g walnut pieces
15g fresh sage leaves (about 2 handfuls)
50g Parmesan cheese, grated
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
125ml extra virgin olive oil
50 - 100g Black Bomber extra-mature cheddar cheese* or more Parmesan, grated, to finish
Method
1) Put a large pan of well-salted water on to boil. Heat the oven to 220C and line a baking sheet.
2) Cut the radicchio in half from stem to base, then each half into 3 or 4 wedges through the core. (Save any stray leaves for a future salad.) Once the water has boiled, drop the radicchio wedges in a few at a time and blanch for one minute, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain very well. Gently place them on the baking sheet and brush all over with olive oil. Roast for 10 - 15 minutes, until steaming and showing some golden edges. Remove from the oven and keep warm.
3) Cook the pasta until done to your liking. Drain and toss with a few drops of oil; keep warm.
4) Meanwhile, make the pesto. Whizz all the ingredients together in a food processor to a thick but spoonable paste – add more oil if it is too solid.
5) Stir half the pesto through the pasta and scoop into a warm serving dish. Arrange the radicchio on top and dollop the remaining pesto over it. Serve right away, with extra grated cheese, if desired.
* these lovely ingredients are found in the exceptional Kitchen Heroes Gift Box.
Dessert: Rhubarb Rose Eton Mess
From "New Urban Farmer" by Celia Brooks
Serves 4 / Prep in advance
Bright pink rhubarb is in peak season right now. In this elegant dessert, the mysterious perfume of rosewater meets the rhubarb’s quirky tartness, suspended in pillows of cream and crunchy meringue. This is super easy to make, and should be made a few hours ahead or the night before, then assembled just before serving.
Ingredients
300g (trimmed weight) new season rhubarb, sliced
75g caster sugar
4 individual meringue nests
300ml double cream
1-2 tbsp rosewater, or to taste
Method
1) Place the rhubarb and sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat and cover. When the sugar melts and it starts to boil, stir, lower the heat to a simmer and cookuncovered for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove to a heat-proof bowl and leave to cool completely, then chill.
2) When ready to serve, crumble the meringues into a bowl, leaving them in a few bite-size chunks.
3) Whip the cream until it holds it shape and forms soft peaks, but do not over-whip so that it is stiff. Add the rosewater, starting with 1 tbsp, and beat briefly, until thick again. Taste and add more rosewater if you think it needs it – the flavour should be subtle, but recognisable.
4) Stir the cream mixture through the meringues, then fold through the rhubarb so it is streaky but not evenly combined.
5) Spoon into a serving bowl and serve. (Alternatively, construct each portion with layers of meringue, cream, and rhubarb in individual wine or cocktail glasses, adding a topping of crumbled meringue.)
Treat Mum to the gift of food
Celia Brooks, renowned Celebrity Chef curated these excquisite dishes for you to share with your mum, not just this Mother's Day. Whether it's her birthday, an anniversary or any other occasion, the gift of fine cuisine is something she'll never forget.
Have you enjoyed these lovely recipes, or think mum would like to give them a go herself? Pick up the hand-selected ingredients, alongside Celia's cookery book Super Veg in our Curated By Celia Brooks range of gift hampers.
