Beetroot, olive & broccoli bolognaise‏

Ingredients 1 small onion, half a stick of celery, a handful of fresh or oil marinated olives - never the rubbery brined ones! 1/2 a head of broccoli, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1 small beetroot, spaghetti, red wine, 100ml passata, 1 clove garlic.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes

I have always been rather excited by raw foodism. Partly due to OCD (the idea that I am not getting EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE nutrient from my food ALL THE TIME can be somewhat crippling during my wiggier moments) and partly because HEY SO DELICIOUS. Baby Led Weaning meant that my son had a good grounding in the individual flavours of different ingredients before he experienced more complex meals and I learned to appreciate how gorgeous simple food could be. This isn't actually a raw recipe, but it's inspired by no-fuss, simple flavours working so very well together.

1) Blitz the celery, onion and garlic in your food processor and tip into a pan. Add a little olive oil and sizzle until soft) 

2) Add the broccoli and olives to the food processor and blitz until reduced to the size of breadcrumbs. Grate the beetroot (I just pull out the blade spindle and add the grater blade to my food processor so it's all contained in one bowl.) and then add to the pan of softened onions and celery.

3) I like to add a little red wine along with the passata tomatoes and herbs, but this is entirely according to taste. Cook for just as long as it takes for your spaghetti to boil (8-12 minutes depending on the type of spaghetti) and drain.

4) Add the pasta to the pan and stir through. Serve hot (with a sprinkle of parmesan if you aren't vegetarian)

Caponata

Ingredients 50g sultanas, 50g olives, 1 aubergine, 10-15 cherry tomatoes, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp muscovado sugar, 1 onion or 1 stick celery, olive oil, 1 piece dark chocolate.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour

Caponata is a hot Sicilian aubergine salad, one of those marvellous Italian dishes which is equally lovely alone as antipasti or tossed with rice or pasta to make a meal. I particularly like this with butter beans to form a sort of stew. This combination of sultanas, olives and balsamic vinegar is the perfect balance of sweet and savoury flavours, soaked up beautifully by the melt-in-the-mouth perfection of aubergine. The leftovers are marvellous spread onto bread for lunch the next day.

1) Slice the aubergine into cubes, toss with a tsp of salt and add to a colander to rest for at least half an hour to allow the bitter juices to drain away. I like to set the colander on top of a bowl so that I can check the progress - from one aubergine you will get at least 50ml of liquid!

2) Peel and finely slice the onions, or finely dice the celery and add to a pan with a glug of olive oil. Sizzle for at least 10 minutes to allow them to soften completely, then add the brown sugar, sultanas and balsamic vinegar. Turn off the heat and leave to rest so that the sultanas soak up the wonderful flavours and become plump and juicy.

3) In a separate pan, Fry off the aubergines in a little oil until they are completely soft and the skin has turned a dark and vibrant purple. Transfer to the pan of onions/celery and sultanas and turn on the heat.

4) Pit the olives and blitz in a blender (or if you can't get hold of good olives - for goodness sake don't bother buying unpitted ones, they're like hunks of rubber! - a good olive tapenade will suffice), quarter the tomatoes then add both to the pan. Stir gently so as not to break the tomatoes down too much, just bring everything together.

5) Whether serving hot, or cold, grate a little good quality dark chocolate to season (I used 85% here but if your tastes are not quite so pure, 70% will be bitter enough).

Panzanella

Ingredients 1 tbs Passata, 2 tbs basil oil, 1 tsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp honey (or agave syrup if vegan). Cherry tomatoes, cucumber, basil, old bread, kamalata olives.

Preparation: 5 minutes

Panzanella goes back to the 16th century, but it wasn't until the 20th century that this Florentine version emerged: stale bread soaked in oil, vinegar and tomato with herbs and mixed with salad. Back in the day - only onions were used, not tomato. And given that I loathe uncooked onions with a fiery passion, I am very glad indeed that it's no longer the 16th Century! You know, that and smallpox. I serve mine with cucumber, olives and cherry tomatoes but you can of course use salad leaves or other fruits and vegetables if you wish. I save my heels of bread and make this for a quick supper or a scrummy lunch.

1) To make the dressing, combine the oil, vinegar and passata and season to taste. I like to add a little honey to cut the acidity of the vinegar but this depends on what you are mixing into your salad of course! If you're vegan, you can use an alternative.

2) Tear the bread into bitesize chunks. I have done this with the leftover heel of ciabatta, spelt bread, you name it - any crusty loaf will do. If all you have is sliced bread or you don't bake your own, then I would recommend toasting the bread first.

3) Stir the bread into the dressing and stir in the other ingredients. Serve immediately. If you'd like this as a packed lunch, make up a little jar of dressing, a foil wrap your chunks of bread and keep them in your box of salad to prepare just before eating.

Greek bean salad

Ingredients Green beans, butterbeans, feta, Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt, mint, cucumber, green olives, chives.

Preparation: 10 minutes

La OK, I'll admit it, I have been OBSESSED with Greek food for the last few months. I can't help it - beautiful flavours, minimal ingredients and you have a simple, quick meal that is more often than not healthy too. This scrumptious bean salad has soft butterbeans, salty feta and olives, the fresh crunch of green beans and a luscious slither of minty Greek yoghurt tying it all together.

1) Top and tail the green beans and simmer in hot salted water with the butterbeans for 5 minutes. Strain in a colander and run under cold water to bring them down to room temperature.

2) Dice the feta and olives and stir into the beans.

3) Finely chop the mint, chives and cucumber, then stir into the yoghurt and toss with the other ingredients and serve.

Olive Scones

Ingredients 250g self raising flour, 50g butter, 75ml buttermilk, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 10 olives

Makes: 8 Preparation: 30

Savoury scones are something that I have experimented with quite often for this blog. From stilton and walnut to pesto, the humble scone is pretty easy to sex up. The result of my latest experimentation are these buttery, crumbly scones, stuffed with juicy, tangy olives. Oh my!

1) Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

2) Pit and halve the olives, then halve again and add to the bowl.
3) Mix the buttermilk in with the dry ingredients until a dough has formed.

4)  Roll out the dough on a floured surface and then fold it in half and roll again. Cut out rounds of pastry with a scalloped cutter and brush with the last drizzles of the milk to help the surface colour.

5) Bake at 200 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Roast tomato & olive soup

Ingredients 2 lbs tomatoes, 1/2 onion, 1 pint vegetable stock, kamalata olives, butter.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour

I love soup. I find all the chopping, stirring and pureeing very soothing, the warm smells that fill the house comforting, and I love ladling out steamy bowls of soup for people to dunk hot crispy bread into, dressing it with ever more creative croutons or swirls of cream and yoghurt. This soup is nothing short of fabulous. The salty tang of the olives brings an extra dimension to the rich, savoury tomatoes - this is definitely not one you'll get bored of!

1) Roast the whole tomatoes and for 20 minutes at 200 degrees, then add to a blender and puree.

2) Peel and finely dice half an onion and sautee in a little butter. Pass the tomato flesh through a sieve, into the pan of onions, then add the vegetable stock.

3) Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally then pass through a sieve a second time to separate the onions.

4) Pit the olives and chop finely. Stir into the soup and serve.

Quinoa & aubergine salad

Ingredients 1 cup Quinoa, 1 aubergine, 1 bell pepper, 4 baby plum tomatoes, paprika, kamalata olives, salt, rapeseed oil

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

I love aubergines, simply love them. They soak up flavour like majestic sponges and when cooked well, just melt in your mouth. This salad can be served hot or cold and is simply fabulous.

1) Remove the top and core from a bell pepper and shake out the seeds. Slice finely, drizzle with a little rapeseed oil and roast in the oven along with the baby plum tomatoes for 20 minutes.

2) Slice your aubergines and lay the slices in a colander. Sprinkle salt on the aubergines and set aside.

3) Soak the quinoa for 5 minutes and rinse well in a sieve. Depending on where you buy it, it naturally has an acrid coating called saponin which you don't want flavouring your food!

4) Cover the quinoa in salted water and bring to the boil for about 15 minutes, stir continually as it soaks up the water and fluffs up, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool

5) The salt will have drawn the bitter liquid from the aubergines, rinse the liquid, pat the aubergines dry and brush with rapeseed oil. Dry fry in a very hot pan for about 5 minutes per slice, turning frequently. When the aubergines are ready the skin will have turned violet and the flesh will have darkened in colour and become meltingly soft.

6) Stir the tomatoes and peppers into the quinoa, seasoning well with salt, black pepper and paprika. I also like to add some finely diced black kamalata olives but this is entirely to taste.

7) Layer the aubergine and quinoa mixture using a circle mould, pressing each layer firmly. Serve hot or cold.

Olive mash

Ingredients   2 Maris Piper potatoes, butter, oregano, black pepper, kamalata olives

Preparation: 30 minutes Serves: 4

Mashed potato is without a doubt my favourite food. It is the ultimate in comfort and is wonderfully versatile. Much like everything goes with toast, in my humble opinion you can add pretty much anything to mashed potato from citrus to cheese to spices to vegetables and it will still be absolutely divine. This, my latest adventure in rich, indulgent - knock you off your socks with flavour - food is simply fabulous.

1) Peel and dice the potatoes, then boil in hot salted water for 20 minutes.

2) Peel and crush a clove of garlic and saute in a little butter with freshly chopped oregano.

3) Mash the potato, adding the garlic and oregano butter until silky-smooth in consistency, then pit and halve the kamalata olives and stir through.

Spinach, feta, olive & sun-dried tomato bean burgers

Ingredients 400g spinach, 1 potato, sun dried tomatoes, olives, feta, haricot beans, old bread, pistachios, sesame seeds, 1 egg.

Serves: 4 preparation: 30 minutes


This is one of my favourite recent recipes and I can see myself making these time and time again. The burgers are like an explosion of flavour - olive BAM, tomato BAM, feta BAM but there's the silky smooth potato and spinach to balance it out - the beans add a great texture and the crispy, nutty crust is fabulous.


1) Peel and dice the potato, then boil in hot, salted water until soft. Drain, mash and set aside to cool.



2) Drain the can of beans and slice them in half. This sounds laborous but it needn't be - just line them up and slice multiple beans at the same time! stir into the mashed potato.


3) Blitz the spinach in a blender and stir into the bean and potato mixture.


4) Dice the feta, tomatoes and olives and stir into the mixture.


5) Blitz your bread in a blender until fine breadcrumbs are formed. Crush a handful of pistachios in a blender and stir through the bread with some sesame seeds.


6) Whisk the egg and roll the patty into it before rolling it through the breadcrumbs, then bake in the oven for 10 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Beetroot, orange & olive salad

Ingredients 2 oranges, 1 beetroot, 10 kamalata olives, Peashoots, Spinach, salad leaves, white wine vinegar, olive oil.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 5 minutes


I have been going nuts for olives recently and when toying with creating an orange and beetroot salad I wanted something really savoury to cut through the sweetness, that wouldn't change the texture like a nut would. Olive seemed the natural choice and I am in love with the results. Give this a try, it's sinfully moreish!


1) Wash the beetroot and slice off the stalks and leaves. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Carefully peel the beetroot with the nick of a knife, then once it's cool slice in half, and then into segments. 


2) Peel the orange carefully with a sharp knife, then slice into each section to release the segments, free of pith.


3) Squeeze the remains of the oranges to release any juice into a bowl. Mix equal parts of white wine vinegar and olive oil with the orange juice to form a dressing, then season with salt and black pepper.


4) Toss the salad leaves in the dressing, then arrange the orange and beetroot on the plate. Pit the olives and add to the salad and drizzle over the remaining dressing.

Olive & almond tart

Ingredients 3 eggs, 150g   ground almonds, 100g kamalata olives, 250g plain flour, 1 tsp salt  250g butter.

Serves: 6 Preparation: 1 hour and a half


The sweet nuttiness of almonds and the savoury strength of the olives make a beautiful combination in these lovely tarts.


1) To make the pastry - Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and rub in the butter. Make a well in the centre and mix in about 100ml cold water until you have a firm rough dough. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge to chill.


2) Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until it's no more than 1cm thick. Cut out circles of dough and roll out into thinner pastry about half a centimetre thick and blind bake for 10-12 minutes.


3) Break 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk into a mixing bowl and beat together. Fold in the ground almonds and season with salt and pepper.


4) Pit the olives and pulse in the blender and fold in to the egg and almond mix.


5) Spoon the mixture into the pastry cases and level out. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 200 degrees until golden brown.


This is perfect served with halved olives and my lemon thyme & goats cheese mousse.

White chocolate & olive potato salad

Ingredients   2 King Edward potatoes, dill, 2    squares white chocolate, 10 kamalata olives, 4 eggs, lemon juice, salt, pepper, 1 pint vegetable oil

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes


This might sound incredibly unusual, but the subtle sweetness of the white chocolate, the seductive vanilla notes and the rich saltiness of the olives are a wonderful combination.


1) To make your own mayonnaise - separate 4 egg yolks from the whites (discard the whites) and put in a large clean bowl to whisk (or use the whisk attachment on your blender if you have one). Add the lemon juice/vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk thoroughly, adding the oil ONE DROP at a time until the mayonnaise is thick and glossy. You don't have to use all the oil - I like it quite thick but if it's too thick you can always add a little warm water to thin it back down again.


2) Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks then boil in hot salted water for 20 minutes and strain.


3) Whilst the potatoes are cooling, put the chocolate squares into a bowl and set it on top of a bowl of boiling water to make a bain marie. Stir the chocolate until it has melted, then take it off the heat. The chocolate should be warm and not hot because white chocolate has a low melting temperature but give it 30 seconds before stirring it into the mayonnaise to avoid it splitting.


4) Chop the dill and stir into the mayonnaise, then add the cool potatoes.


5) Pit the olives and add to the salad. Stir through and serve.

Olive & tomato pasta

Ingredients    kamalata olives, baby plum     tomatoes, mozarella pearls, honey, basil oil, peas, linguine

Serves: 2 Preparation: 15 minutes


I know that my cooking seems to be absurdly diverse, but you may notice that there is a distinct pattern to my posts. Almost every flavour combination that I discover winds up being tossed with pasta when I have leftovers - I should change the name of this blog to Everything Goes With Pasta! When I made the  tomato and olive bruschetta earlier this week, I knew exactly how the remaining tapenade-like mixture would meet its fate though it did give me pause. When I was a child there was a trend in the post-Thatcher days to mix peas and sweetcorn with EVERYTHING to bulk out a spaghetti bolognaise or some rice and quite honestly I see peas mixed with a tomato-based sauce and want to run screaming from the room with a petulant "not again mummy!". The truth is that peas do go so wonderfully with pasta because the freshness cuts through a heavy cheese based sauce. In this cause I'm using cheese with the peas as a method to cut through the heavy olive-based sauce - mozarella pearls are wonderful here.



1) Put the linguine on to boil. A smooth linguine will take 8 - 10 minutes in salted water, if the linguine is dusted with polenta it will more likely take 11-12 minutes to become soft and pliable.


2) Add the peas during the last 2 minutes (if cooking from frozen - if cooking with shelled peas, 5-7 minutes should do, once they turn colour you only need another minute).


3) Once the pasta has been cooked (either taste a strand, or chuck it at the wall - if it sticks, it's done!), strain and toss in a pan with a few spoons of the remaining olive and tomato sauce and some mozarella pearls. Warm through in the pan, stirring continually until the pasta has become coated.


And serve!

Olive & goats cheese linguine

Ingredients Fine beans, goats cheese, kamalata olives, honey, linguine

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes


I know that my cooking seems to be absurdly diverse, but you may notice that there is a distinct pattern to my posts. Almost every flavour combination that I discover winds up being tossed with pasta when I have leftovers - I should change the name of this blog to Everything Goes With Pasta! When I made the  goats cheese and olive bruschetta earlier this week, I knew exactly how the remaining tapenade-like mixture would meet its fate and truly, combined with the freshness of fine beans this really was a superb dish.


1) Put the linguine on to boil. A smooth linguine will take 8 - 10 minutes in salted water, if the linguine is dusted with polenta it will more likely take 11-12 minutes to become soft and pliable.


2) Trim the ends from the fine beans and put them on to boil for 6 minutes, then strain and plunge them into ice water.


3) Once the pasta has been cooked (either taste a strand, or chuck it at the wall - if it sticks, it's done!), strain and toss in a pan with the beans and a few spoons of the remaining olive and goats cheese sauce. Warm through in the pan, stirring continually until the pasta has become coated.


I like to serve this with a little extra goats cheese crumbled on top but this is purely gluttony, the dish doesn't require any extra cheese - it's gorgeous with a little balsamic glaze drizzled over it too.

Olive & goats cheese bruschetta

Ingredients Ciabatta, 50g kamalata olives, 100g goats cheese, honey, cucumber.

Preparation: 15 minutes

I love olives - they're so mouthwateringly rich and seductive and can add a fantastic umami quality to your cooking. This bruschetta is a sinfully scrumptious quick snack made stunning with the fresh crunch of cucumber. Got leftovers? Try tossing it with fine beans and linguine.

1) Pit your olives (I never recommend buying pre-pitted olives. They are either rubberized with brine or the flavour and texture has been compromised with oxidisation. Eat them off the stones and they will melt in your mouth) and discard the stones - if you don't have a pitter, you can slice them with a knife and squeeze until the pit pops out.

2) Put the olives and 3/4 of the goats cheese in a blender and pulse through. Taste and then add honey to taste. The salty savoury flavour of the olives and cheese should be prevalent but the creamy delicacy of the cheese is lost without a little sweetness to bring out the citrus notes.

3) Slice the ciabatta and toast on one side (I like to brush with a very little basil oil and then press onto a hot, dry frying pan rather than grill as the bread will retain enough moisture to withstand the grilling that follows)

4) Spread the olive and cheese mixture onto the untoasted side of the bread, crumble the extre goats cheese onto the top and grill for 2-3 minutes. Serve with diced cucumber to cut through the richness.

Olive & tomato bruschetta

Ingredients Ciabatta loaf, 100g kamalata olives, basil oil, 200g baby plum tomatoes, honey.

Preparation: 15 minutes

I love olives - they're so mouthwateringly rich and seductive and can add a fantastic umami quality to your cooking. This bruschetta is one of my favourite quick snacks. Got leftovers? Try tossing it with peas, mozzarella and linguine.

1) Pit your olives (I never recommend buying pre-pitted olives. They are either rubberized with brine or the flavour and texture has been compromised with oxidisation. Eat them off the stones and they will melt in your mouth) and discard the stones - if you don't have a pitter, you can slice them with a knife and squeeze until the pit pops out.

2) Slice the tomatoes in half and then scoop out the core and seeds. You don't need to be too precious about it, the odd seed won't matter but for this dish we need the concentrated flavour of the tomato (the flesh) and not have the texture and flavour diluted by the acidic juices. Discard the core and seeds.

3) Put the olives and tomatoes in a blender and pulse through. Taste and then add basil oil and honey to taste. The salty savoury flavour of the olives should be prevalent but the sweetness of the tomatoes and honey should also come through.

4) Slice the ciabatta and toast on one side (I like to brush with a very little basil oil and then press onto a hot, dry frying pan rather than grill as the bread will retain enough moisture to withstand the grilling that follows)

5) Spread the olive and tomato mixture onto the untoasted side of the bread and grill for 2-3 minutes. It's entirely up to you if you wish to add cheese to this - personally I like to add a few mozarella pearls to cut through the richness.

Brussel sprouts with olive pesto

Ingredients    200g brussel sprouts, basil oil, 30g basil, 30g kamalata   olives,1/2 clove garlic, 30g parmigiano.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes


Brussel sprouts came into season yesterday and I am determined to bring sexy back to these underrated teeny cabbages. Growing up most of us associate Christmas lunch with being forced to eat soggy, bitter sprouts but done well, sprouts can be an indulgent treat. Genovese olive pesto is one of my favourite flavour combinations and I think it's just savoury enough to bring out the natural sweet, fresh taste of sprouts.

1) Genovese style pesto is incredibly fine and involves pulverising the basil literally one leaf at a time in your mortar and pestle - if you don't have the patience then you could use a blender but nothing will release the basil juice and create that silky Genovese texture like the traditional method. 


2) Once the basil is crushed to a fine pulp, add finely diced kamalata olives, minced garlic and parmeggian. Add a glug of basil oil until it has reached the desired consistency.


3) Brussel sprouts take 6 minutes to cook - drop them into a pan of salted, boiling water, checking first to discard any which smell bitter and peeling off any leaves which look old or scarred.


4) Once cooked, strain the sprouts and add back into the hot pan with a few spoonfuls of the pesto. Stir through and serve.

Fig, olive & goats cheese pizza

Ingredients 200g very strong white bread flour      (grade 00), 1/4 tbs salt, 1/2 a sachet    of yeast, 1/4 tsp honey, 1 tbs olive    oil, 130ml warm water, 100ml passata tomatoes, smoked garlic, 100g goats cheese, 2 figs, 100g kamalata olives, balsamic vinegar.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes


It's no secret that I love figs and goats cheese - I have posted recipes for tarts, salads, toasted sandwiches, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed marrows, linguine and canapes (vegetarian and non) - all of which using the fig and goats cheese combination. There's a reason for this - it's quite frankly sex on a plate! This pizza is one of my favourites and because it just contains a little cheese and a thin crust it's relatively healthy as pizzas go. Try it topped with rocket and a little balsamic glaze.

1) For a quick pizza dough: sift the flour and salt together and pour onto a clean work surface. Make a well in the centre and after dissolving the yeast, oil and honey in warm water, pour into the centre and mix with a fork until it is gradually combined. Dust your hands with flour and kneed until a smooth, elastic dough has formed. Set aside somewhere warm in a covered bowl to rise a little.


2) To make the pizza sauce I minced the smoked garlic (my new favourite ingredient!) into the passata tomatoes and added a little honey and balsamic vinegar to contrast with the goats cheese. Simmer for 5-10 minutes on a low heat.


3) Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface (as you'll see from the picture I rolled mine into a heart shape. A subtle indication of how much I love fig and goats cheese perhaps!?) until you have about a half centimetre thickness, then spoon the pizza sauce onto it and smooth it out.


4) Top with pitted kamalata olives, relatively thin wedges of fig (I cut in half, then cut each half into thirds) and rough chunks of goats cheese.


5) Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 220 degrees and serve.

Black olive pesto wedges

Ingredients Basil oil, 30g basil, 30g kamalata olives,1/2 clove garlic, 30g parmigiano, salt, 4 potatoes

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

There's something very satisfying about sticky fingers sharing a plate of chips and these richly flavoured wedges are fabulous.

1) Genovese style pesto is incredibly fine and involves pulverising the basil literally one leaf at a time in your mortar and pestle - if you don't have the patience then you could use a blender but nothing will release the basil juice and create that silky Genovese texture like the traditional method. 2) Once the basil is crushed to a fine pulp, add finely diced kamalata olives, minced garlic and parmeggian. Add a glug of basil oil until it has reached the desired consistency.

3) Halve the potatoes and cut into wedges by quartering each potato half towards the centre. Parboil for 5 minutes in hot salted water and drain thoroughly.

4) When the wedges are completely dry put them in a bowl and stir in 2-3 teaspoons of pesto until they are completely coated.

5) Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes and serve - I like them best dunked in my spinach dip.

Fig, feta & olive pesto stuffed marrow

Ingredients 1 Marrow, feta, 1 fig, balsamic glaze, Basil oil, 30g basil, 30g kamalata   olives,1/2 clove garlic, 30g parmigiano, salt.

If you let a courgette keep growing you end up with a marrow - a juicy, fresh and delicious marrow that is perfect for stuffing with something rich and flavoursome.


1) Wash the marrow thoroughly and cut off the ends. Slice the marrow in half lengthways and then depending on the length of the marrow cut in half sideways. The average marrow will give you four pieces suitable for stuffing.


2) Using a spoon or a flexible filleting knife, remove the core where you may see seeds developing like a melon. For future reference, these seeds are edible, but the flesh you remove from the marrow centre can be discarded for this recipe.


3) Put the marrow pieces on a baking tray and roast them at 200 degrees for 30 minutes.



4) Genovese style pesto is incredibly fine and involves pulverising the basil literally one leaf at a time in your mortar and pestle - if you don't have the patience then you could use a blender but nothing will release the basil juice and create that silky Genovese texture like the traditional method. 


5) Once the basil is crushed to a fine pulp, add finely diced kamalata olives, minced garlic and parmeggian. Add a glug of basil oil until it has reached the desired consistency.


6) Rub a teaspoon of pesto onto each piece of marrow and crumble with feta and quarters of fig. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes and serve, drizzled with balsamic glaze.