Stichelton, pear and walnut salad

A perfect seasonal salad from Jeremy Lee’s gorgeous book Cooking to use the Christmas Stilton or as Jeremy suggests, Stichelton. I love the touch of using membrillo in it and, if you can get hold of it, quince vinegar.

Jeremy writes: "This pleasing salad is best in the winter months when walnuts, pears and Stilton are at their peak. It is worth keeping an eye out for interesting varieties of pears such as Passe-Crassane, so distinctive with their stalks topped with a drip of red wax.Colston Bassett is a pasteurised Stilton, the only Stilton permitted, and Stichelton is unpasteurised, and made from the last culture taken from the last unpasteurised Colston Bassett Stilton that was stored and preserved by Randolph Hodgson at Neal’s Yard Dairy.

Stichelton, pear and walnut salad

Feeds 6

2–3 ripe pears

1 soup spoon very good vinegar (you can get quince vinegar from the Vinegar Shed)

250g Stichelton or Colston Bassett Stilton or any good blue cheese

75g membrillo or quince cheese

100g walnuts, coarsely chopped

3 big handfuls of mixed leaves such as escarole, soft green lettuce, rocket, spinach, chicory or even watercress

3 soup spoons walnut oil

2 soup spoons extra virgin olive oil

Halve and core the pears, then slice thinly. In a big bowl, toss the pears in the vinegar to prevent discoloration. Crumble the Stichelton over the pears.

Cut the membrillo into small pieces and scatter over the Stichelton, then strew with the chopped walnuts. Add the leaves,a little salt and black pepper and the walnut and olive oils. Mix together, taste for seasoning and serve.

What to drink: So not port, for a start, even though it's Stilton! I'd be tempted by a rich white like a grenache gris or a white Côtes du Rhône. An amontillado sherry would also be rather delicious.

Extracted from Cooking Simply and Well, for One or Many by Jeremy Lee, published by Fourth Estate at £30.

Penne in walnut sauce

If you've run through your pasta sauce repertoire several times during lockdown try this delicious penne in salsa di noci (penne in walnut sauce) from Christine Smallwood's lovely new book Italy: The World Vegetarian. It's really simple - as she says basically a walnut pesto.

Christine writes: Walnuts are found throughout Italy, as are beautiful bowls and other wooden objects made from their tree’s wood. The nuts are found in various dishes and the first pasta I came across with a walnut sauce was a ricotta-filled ravioli, but linguine, spaghetti and penne (as here) are all good choices, too.

A walnut sauce is often made with cream, but I like it as more of a pesto, albeit with walnuts and parsley instead of pine nuts and basil. Some people blanch their walnuts to remove the papery skin, but it is not essential.

Penne in Salsa di Noci

SERVES 4

NOTE: THIS RECIPE CONTAINS NUTS

300g shelled walnuts, roughly chopped

30g vegetarian Italian hard cheese, finely grated

20g parsley

½ garlic clove

1 teaspoon salt, plus extra to season

a pinch of black pepper, plus extra to season

about 8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve

350g penne pasta

Reserve a small quantity of the chopped walnuts for garnish. Put the remainder, along with the cheese, parsley, garlic and salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Blitz to combine. Add enough oil to make quite a loose sauce. Transfer the sauce to a pan large enough to hold the cooked pasta and set aside.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the penne. Cook according to the packet instructions until just al dente. Reserve a few spoonfuls of the cooking water, then drain. (I found I needed quite a bit to loosen the sauce so keep back at least half a cup (about 125ml)

Loosen the walnut sauce with a little of the reserved pasta cooking water and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Add the pasta to the pan with the sauce and stir to coat. Serve immediately sprinkled with an extra drizzle of olive oil and a few sprinkled chopped walnuts.

What to drink: You don't want anything too obviously fruity for this dish - a dry Italian white like a Soave, Orvieto or Vernaccia di San Gimignano would be ideal and, having tasted it, it would also go with an orange or skin contact wine) I also like the idea of drinking a savagnin or Jura chardonnay with it but haven't tried it

Extracted from Italy: The World Vegetarian by Christine Smallwood (Bloomsbury Absolute, £20). Photography by Mike Cooper.

Walnut meringue cake with buttermilk cream and poached rhubarb

If you're looking for a show-stopping dessert to serve for a summer party try this utterly delicious tiered meringue cake I tasted (correction, 'ate') the other day at The Three Crowns.

I managed to inveigle the chef Lee Urch into giving us the recipe. Do give it a try!

Lee writes: "This 'cake' is a matter of quick assembly so you need your three components ready for use and a large pretty platter or tray to carry it to the table."

For the Walnut Meringues (makes 10)

400g egg whites (about 8 medium eggs)

800g caster sugar

200g walnut pieces (the freshest you can find)

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Then slowly add half of the caster sugar until you have a stiff and glossy meringue (easy in a Kitchen Aid of course). Your mix must be stiff as possible at this point before carefully folding in the remaining sugar and the walnuts.

Taking a large metal spoon - scoop out 10 meringues onto a baking tray that has been lined with baking parchment (a small blob of meringue mix in each corner of the baking sheet will hold it in place)

Place in a preheated 150°C oven. Close the door and immediately turn down to 110°C. Bake for 50 mins. Allow meringues to cool and harden before using.

For the rhubarb

6 sticks (about 800g) of rhubarb (as pink as possible)

100g caster sugar

peel of 1 orange, cut into strips

1 piece of stem ginger, finely grated

Chop the rhubarb into 3cm pieces. Wash this well and place in a single layer in a large ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the caster sugar, orange peel (this can be discarded once cooked) and the grated ginger. Cover the dish tightly with foil and place in a 150°C oven for 15-20mins until the rhubarb is tender but still holds it shape and you have a lovely pink juice in the bottom of the dish. Let the rhubarb cool in the dish before using. As with most of these things it's best if it doesn't see the fridge!

Buttermilk cream

2 cups of buttermilk

1 cup of double cream

2/3 cup of caster sugar

1 vanilla pod

1pkt gelatine powder or 4 sheets of gelatine

Dissolve the gelatine as per the manufacturer's instructions. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl combine half the double cream and the buttermilk until smooth.

In a small saucepan dissolve the sugar and the other half of the double cream and scrape in your vanilla pod. Let this infuse over a low heat but do not boil. Remove from the heat and stir in your prepared gelatine. Add this to the buttermilk and cream mix. Set in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

The cream should not set solid and will hardly hold its shape when scooped over your meringues - and be all the better for it!

Now you have all the components ready it's time for the fun part:

Whip a pint of double cream quite stiffly but take care it doesn't go buttery. Pile up your meringues on your platter - using the cream to keep them in place. Try and get as much height as possible for that spectacular look!

Once you have your 'mountain' (see my rather dark and blurry picture taken at the restaurant) you can now tumble over the cooled fruit and pour/scoop over your buttermilk cream. Finish off the whole affair with a dash of extra chopped walnuts and a good dusting of icing sugar. A big spoon is a must so all your guests can get stuck in to the mighty stack....

Note: this pudding contains nuts.

What to drink: I'd go for a Moscato d'Asti with this but you could try an off-dry sparkling rosé