Joe Otway’s roast winter squash with ’nduja. Photograph: Phoebe Pearson/Photographs: Phoebe Pearson/The Guardian, food Styling: Rosie Reynolds, prop styling: Florence Blair View image in fullscreen Joe Otway’s roast winter squash with ’nduja. Photograph: Phoebe Pearson/Photographs: Phoebe Pearson/The Guardian, food Styling: Rosie Reynolds, prop styling: Florence Blair Food Cheese tart, corn salad, squash with ’nduja, radicchio salad: Joe Otway’s recipes for early autumn Celebrate seasonal British-grown produce with four easy dishes guided by a natural ingredient in its prime
Prefer the Guardian on Google E arly autumn is one of the most generous and comforting times of year to cook with British produce: sweetcorn is at its peak, squash begins to sweeten as the weather cools and bitter leaves such as radicchio provide balance to the season’s abundance. Today’s recipes are simple celebrations of British ingredients, using just a handful of carefully chosen components to let each vegetable shine. Whether it’s a buttery cheese tart for sharing; a fresh, herby corn salad; sweet roast squash with warm, spicy ’nduja; or bitter leaves lifted with a floral dressing, they all rely on cooking with ingredients at their seasonal peak and allowing nature to guide the menu.
View image in fullscreen Made for sharing: Joe Otway’s cheese tart. Prep 10 min Chill 30 min+ Cook 1 hr Makes 4 individual tarts
90g unsalted butter , plus extra for greasing 120g plain flour , plus extra for dusting 110g mature cheddar , finely grated 70g whole eggs 25ml whole milk 10g ready-made English mustard , or to taste 110ml double cream Sea salt and black pepper
First, make the pastry. Rub the butter into the flour until the mix resembles coarse breadcrumbs, then add 60g of the grated cheddar and knead gently until the mix comes together into a dough. Divide into four, wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the custard. Blend the eggs, milk, remaining 50g grated cheddar and mustard until smooth, then stir in the cream by hand and season to taste.
Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4, and grease and line four individual 8-10cm tart tins. Lightly flour a work surface, roll out each piece of pastry, then use to line the tins. Line each pastry base with baking paper, fill with baking beans or similar, then blind bake for 15 minutes, until lightly golden. Lift out the paper and beans, then return the tarts to the oven for a further five minutes, until the bases are crisp and golden.
Carefully pour the custard into each tart case until they’re almost full, then bake for another 15-25 minutes, depending on your oven (the actual temperature of domestic ovens varies a fair bit, after all), until the custard is lightly browned and just set with a slight wobble in the centre.
Leave to cool to room temperature, then serve, either with a bitter leaf salad or with one of the following two sides.
View image in fullscreen Joe Otway’s corn salad with soured cream and oregano. Prep 5 min Cook 15 min Serves 4
Sea salt and black pepper 4 fresh sweetcorn cobs , or 1 400g tin good-quality sweetcorn 150g soured cream 100ml extra-virgin olive oil Juice of ½ lemon Sea salt 20g fresh oregano leaves , plus extra to garnish 30g parmesan , shaved
Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil, drop in the corn cobs, cook for four or five minutes, until tender, then drain and refresh. Once the cobs are cool enough to handle, cut off the kernels and put in a bowl (if you’…