Create these fresh dishes full of spring flavours to eat outside with these delicious recipes from THE PIG- in the South Downs at Madehurst, near Arundel
Tomato, spring onion & yoghurt salad
This is The PIG-in the South Down’s head chef Kamil’s famous salad, a summer dish that makes use of all our homegrown vegetables. The yoghurt dressing is light and fresh, and the basil and lovage add an aromatic bite
Serves 4 as a side
1kg mixed tomatoes
salt and pepper
2 spring onions
80ml natural yoghurt
zest and juice of 1 lemon
20g basil
20g lovage
Quarter or half the tomatoes depending on size and season with salt and pepper. Thinly slice the spring onions.
Place the yoghurt in a bowl and add the lemon zest. Add in the tomatoes, spring onions, basil and lovage; check the seasoning. Add the lemon juice to your taste.
Courgette ribbons, Padron peppers & Charlton cheese
Another favourite salad and one that can be a side or the main event for a summer lunch. The freshness of the courgettes coupled with the earthiness of the cheese – from the Goodwood Estate – and the acidity of the lemon is a match made in heaven
Serves 4 as a side
1 medium green courgette
1 medium yellow courgette
salt and pepper
zest and juice of 1 lemon
8 Padron peppers
1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
50g Charlton cheese (or another unpasteurised strongly flavoured hard cheese), grated
1 red chilli, seeds removed and very finely sliced
Using a peeler, turn the courgettes into ribbons and discard the seeds. Season in a bowl with salt and pepper and the juice from a quarter lemon.
In a hot pan, fry the peppers in the oil for 3-5 minutes until slightly charred; season. Mix both types of courgettes with the peppers, the rest of the lemon juice, rapeseed oil, lemon zest and salt and pepper in a bowl and dress all the ingredients except the cheese. Serve on a plate, finely grate the cheese over the top, sprinkle on the chilli and serve
Smashed peas on sourdough with poached eggs
We know that everyone loves their smashed avos with poached eggs for brunch, but with the controversy around the negative impact of avocado production, we felt it was damaging our sustainability ambitions and the time was right to find an alternative. Now we wouldn’t go back! The smashed peas and soft egg yolk is a perfect combo – and if you like your morning eggs with a dash of spice, add a little chilli or Tabasco to taste.
Serves 2 as a starter or for brunch
100g frozen peas, cooked in salted boiling water for 4 minutes then drained
salt and pepper
50ml vegetable stock
20g butter, melted
1 large slice of sourdough
2 freshly poached eggs
salt and pepper
1 fresh red chilli
Place the warm peas in a food processor and pulse until a rough purée is formed. Season and thin a little with some vegetable stock and butter.
Toast the sourdough and place on the plate. Gently heat the peas over a low heat. Poach your eggs and drain. Spread the pea mixture on the warm toast and place the eggs on top. Season with salt and pepper and serve with a few fine slices of deseeded chilli.
Baked garden figs with honey & rosemary
This is very easy to make and is just as good served in a large dish for a dinner party or for all the family.
Serves 2- 3
6 figs
2 – 3 dessertspoons of honey
100ml red wine or port
Sprig rosemary (optional)
Heat the oven to 200ºC, 180ºC fan(400ºF), Gas Mark 6.
Cut the figs in half lengthways and place in an ovenproof dish, seeds side up.
Drizzle the honey over the figs then pour over the wine. Add the rosemary to the wine.
Cook uncovered in the centre of the oven for about 10 minutes and serve straight from the oven with ice cream.
Tipsy Squire
An elaborate trifle with brandy, sherry, almonds and bay-flavoured custard, its name paying homage to the alcohol cleverly disguised inside the cake and custard. The traditional trifle made good use of stale cake soaked in alcohol, jam with no fresh fruit (this made it ‘sloppy’) and cream thickened with cornflour and almonds. Our recipe alters slightly from the original as we make the custard without cornflour and use well-drained preserved fruit
Serves 4-6
almond sponge (see recipe below)
custard (see recipe below)
50ml brandy
200g fruit of your choice (we used cherries)
1 teaspoon caster sugar
50ml sherry
100ml double cream
a little icing sugar (optional)
30g flaked almonds
hundreds and thousands
For the almond sponge
75g room-temperature egg whites (roughly 3 egg whites)
100g caster sugar
50g egg yolk (roughly 3 egg yolks)
100g ground almonds
15g plain (or gluten-free) flour
For the custard
240ml double cream
1-2 small bay leaves (or, if you prefer, a vanilla pod, split)
80g egg yolk (roughly 4 egg yolks)
60g caster sugar
Make your sponge. Heat oven to 200ºC, 180ºC fan (400ºF), Gas Mark 6.
Whisk the egg whites and 50g sugar to make a stiff meringue; chill for later.
Whisk the yolk with the remaining 50g of caster sugar until you have a pale, creamy texture. Sift the ground almonds and flour together, then fold in stages into the yolk mixture. Finally, fold in the meringue.
Grease a baking tray measuring 20 x 20cm, line with greaseproof paper and lightly grease this. Pour the mix onto the tray and gently spread evenly. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, then allow to cool at room temperature before chilling in the fridge.
When chilled, flip the tray upside down and release the sponge from the tray, then carefully peel the greaseproof away from the sponge, which should be moist and slightly sticky.
Cut the sponge into 2cm squares; any leftovers can be frozen for future use.
For the custard, heat the cream and bay or vanilla. Thoroughly mix the yolk and sugar to a smooth paste. When the cream reaches boiling point, remove from heat and pour a little on to the egg mix, stirring constantly to form a smooth paste.
Now add a little more to loosen it, then return to the pan of hot cream and vigorously whisk until blended. Return to a medium heat while stirring constantly until it reaches 82º C (or is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon).
Remove the bay or vanilla, cover with greaseproof paper or clingfilm and allow to cool. Put the brandy in a small pan with the fruit and the teaspoon of sugar. Warm through gently to soften, drain liquor into a bowl and add the sherry.
For the trifle, you can make it in individual dishes or a large bowl, but start with a layer of sponge, then a layer of fruit, then place another layer of sponge over that. Spoon over the boozy mix and liberally soak the sponge. Use the back of a spoon to push the sponge down so that it’s even, and check that it’s well soaked (if not, add more alcohol).
Next, coat the sponge with a good layer of custard, smoothing down with the back of a dessertspoon warmed in hot water. Soft-whip the cream. If you want more sweetness, sift a little icing sugar into the cream. Either transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto the custard or, using a spoon, blob the cream straight onto the custard. In a very hot oven, or under the grill, toast the flaked almonds until golden and allow to cool before standing them up in the cream.
Finally, sprinkle the cream with the hundreds and thousands or coloured sugar strands.
All recipes from: THE PIG: 500 MILES OF FRIENDS, FOOD AND LOCAL LEGENDS (HB £30) by Robin Huston and The PIG team
Photographs by John Carey.
