Cook of the month: Fran Warde

By Fran Warde

Saturday is usually a rushed affair. It is a day that seems to be dedicated to catching up on shopping, washing, cleaning, a visit to the gym or maybe recovering from that big Friday night. But you should still make an effort to eat a good lunch. I have devised a menu that’s simple to cook but great to eat, just for your family and friends.

Menu
Garlic Bread
Ratatouille
Upside-down Pear Cake
To drink: Loire Red, such as Chinon

Garlic Bread
garlic bread is fantastic and children love it. Baguette is traditional but any bread works. Try farmhouse white, cottage loaf, ciabatta, Danish split, wholemeal, mixed grain or individual rolls and cut them accordingly.

Serves 4

1 loaf of bread
3 garlic cloves
100g butter, softened
bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
you’ll also need a baking sheet

Cut the bread into slices without cutting the crust, all the way through, or cut it in half lengthways. Crush the whole cloves of garlic with the heel of a large knife, then peel, chop and mash to a purée with a teaspoon of salt. Mix the garlic purée, butter, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl, then spread generously on to the slices of bread. Wrap the bread in foil, put on a baking sheet and cook in a preheated oven at 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for 20 minutes. Serve hot with ratatouille.

Variation: for quick-style garlic bread, slice the loaf and toast it on one side. Spread the other side with garlic butter, then grill.

Ratatouille
All the vegetables for ratatouille must be fresh and full of flavour, in order to show off this famous French dish at its best.

Serves 4

3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks
2 aubergines, cut into chunks
3 courgettes, thickly sliced
2 cans peeled plum tomatoes or passata, 400g each
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried marjoram
bunch of flat-leaf parsley or basil, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes without browning. Add the peppers, aubergines and courgettes to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the canned tomatoes or passata, dried oregano and marjoram. Season generously with salt and pepper and stir thoroughly. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat under the pan and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer the ratatouille to a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley or basil, then drizzle with some extra olive oil and serve.

Top tip: Try making ratatouille the day before you plan to serve it. The flavour of the dish really seems to improve overnight and benefit from being cooled and reheated.