Cashew nut, potato and parsnip burger
Ingredients
- 8oz/225g potatoes
- 8oz/225g parsnips
- 4oz/125g cashew nuts
- 6 tbspn/90ml vegetable oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2oz/50g breadcrumbs
- 1″/2cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Peel the potatoes and parsnips and thinly slice. Place in a pan of water and bring to the boil. Cook for 15 mins, or until tender.
- Meanwhile, place the nuts in a blender and blend until finely chopped. Heat 1tbspn/15ml of the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion until softened.
- Drain the potatoes and parsnips and mash well. Place in a bowl with three-quarters of the chopped nuts, the onion, 15g of the breadcrumbs, the ginger, and seasoning. Mix together the rest of the breadcrumbs with the rest of the nuts.
- Divide the mixture into 8 and shape into burgers. Roll in the breadcrumb and nut mix.
- Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan and fry the burgers for 2-3 minutes on each side. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with a mixed salad.
Creamy parsnip, leek and white bean crumble
From Anna Jones in The Guardian.
Ingredients
- 750g leeks (about 6)
- 4 parsnips: 2 peeled and chopped into 2cm chunks, 2 coarsely grated
- 2 tbspn olive oil
- 3 sprigs thyme
- Salt and pepper
- 200ml creme fraiche
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
- Zest of one lemon
- 1 tspn cider vinegar
- 75ml vegetable stock
- 1 x 400g tin white haricot beans
For the crumble:
- 50g jumbo rolled oats
- 30g cold butter, cut in cubes
- 45g plain flour
- 20g pumpkin seeds
- 20g Parmesan cheese
Method
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/350F/gas 6. Toss the leeks and chopped parsnips with the olive oil in a 20 x 30 pie dish or a deep roasting tin. Sprinkle over the leaves from two of the thyme sprigs, and season well. Roast for 35 minutes, until the leeks are soft and buttery, and the parsnips are soft all the way through.
Mix all but 50g of the grated parsnips in a bowl with the creme fraiche, chopped garlic, lemon, cider vinegar, stock and haricot beans. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
In a separate bowl, make the crumble topping. Using your fingertips, rub the oats, butter, flour and pumpkin seeds together with the remaining grated parsnip and thyme leaves so that it starts to clump and look like chunky breadcrumbs. Chill in the fridge until needed.
When the leeks and parsnips have softened, remove from the oven and toss through the bean and creme fraiche mix.
Remove the crumble topping from the fridge, sprinkle it over the filling, grate over the cheese and return to the oven for 30 minutes.
You can assemble the crumble, cover and chill in the fridge up to 24 hours in advance before the final bake. Serve with warm, crusty bread and lemon-dressed salad or greens.
Parsnip and ginger cake
Originally from The National Trust, Spring 2023
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 250g butter
- 300g caster sugar
- 150g golden syrup
- 250g self-raising flour (or gluten-free flour)
- 1 tspn bicarbonate of soda
- 1.5 tspn ground ginger
- 100g ground almonds
- 250g peeled parsnips, finely grated
- 4 medium eggs
- For the topping:
- 40g stem ginger, finely chopped, plus 1 tbspn syrup
- 65g butter, softened
- 35g icing sugar, sifted
- 3/4 tspn ground ginger
- 125g full-fat cream cheese at room temperature
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan/gas mark 4). Line a 23cm/9″ springform tin with baking paper, using double for the sides.
- Stir the butter, sugar and syrup gently in a pan over a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and cool.
- Put the flour, bicarb of soda, ground ginger, and ground almonds into a bowl. Mix in the grated parsnip and stir well.
- Whisk the eggs into the syrup mixture then tip into the parsnip mixture and stir well.
- Pour the mixture into the lined tin. Bake for 45 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool.
- Beat the butter, icing sugar and ground ginger well until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and ginger syrup and mix. Gently stir in half of the chopped stem ginger.
- Spread the topping on the the cooled cake and scatter over the remaining stem ginger.
Parsnip and maple syrup cake
Originally from Good Food magazine.
Ingredients
- 175g butter, plus extra for greasing
- 250g demerara sugar
- 100ml maple syrup
- 3 large eggs
- 250g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 250g parsnips, peeled and grated
- 1 medium eating apple, peeled, cored and grated
- 50g pecans, roughly chopped
- zest and juice 1 small orange
- icing sugar to serve
- For the filling
- 250g tub mascarpone
- 3-4 tbsp maple syrup
Method
- Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins and line the bases with baking parchment.
- Melt butter, sugar and maple syrup in a pan over gentle heat, then cool slightly. Whisk the eggs into this mixture, then stir in the flour, baking powder and mixed spice, followed by the grated parsnip, apple, chopped pecans, orange zest and juice.
- Divide between the tins, then bake for 25-30 mins until the tops spring back when pressed lightly.
- Cool the cakes slightly in the tins before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.
- Just before serving, mix together the mascarpone and maple syrup. Spread over one cake and sandwich with the other. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.
Parsnip and smoked fish cakes
Originally from Ottolenghi. Find the herbs in our Herb Garden.
Ingredients – for 12 cakes, serves 6
- 600g peeled parsnip, cut into chunks
- 120ml olive oil – 3 tbspn for the cakes, the remainder for frying
- 560g smoked cod or haddock fillets, skinless and chopped into 4cm pieces
- 20g dill, roughly chopped
- 20g chives, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 lemons – to give 2 tspn grated zest and wedges to serve
- 2 large eggs, lightly whisked
- 40g butter for frying
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Toss the parsnips with 3 tbspn oil and season. Roast for 30 mins at 190/Mark 7 until golden brown and soft. Tip into a food processor and blitz to a coarse mash. If the mix is very dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water and blitz again to combine. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
- Put the fish in the food processor and pulse to roughly chopped. Add to the bowl of parsnips, along with the herbs, garlic, lemon zest, eggs, 1 tspn salt and plenty of pepper.
- Mix well and form into 12 patties. To make ahead, get to this stage and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
- Put half the butter and half the remaining olive oil into a large frying pan and heat until the butter starts to foam. Add half the patties and fry for 8 mins, turning halfway through, until crisp and golden brown. Keep them warm while you fry the second half.
Plum crumble
Adapted from Delia Smith Complete Cookery Course. This is an easy recipe, well suited to do with kids, who will love crushing the crumble mix into the bowl.
There is nothing unique about this crumble recipe, besides celebrating the abundance and variety of plums we enjoy at the farm. It is near impossible to shop the range of cultivars that our orchards provide. So don’t settle for one type of boring supermarket plum, go ahead and mix as many ripe and fresh summer flavours, textures and sizes as you can fit in the crumble:
In ours, we cooked an assortment of cherry-sized Mirabelle, sweet Victoria, Greengages for a touch of acidity, and Purple Pershore to add texture. We cut, opened and stoned all but the Mirabelles because taking the stones out wasted far too much flesh. So we left them in and played “tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor…” counting the pips as we fished them out while we ate the pudding.
The crumble is failsafe to bake if you follow the quantities, and for custard we cheated and bought shop made 🙂

Ingredients
- For the fruit filling
- 2 lb or about 900 grs of plums. Allow a bit more for weight if you don’t stone them
- 4 to 6 oz (110-175 gr) of demerara sugar
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- For the Crumble
- 8 0z (225gr) of plain or wholewheat flour
- 3 oz of butter (75gr) at room temperature
- 3-4oz (75-110gr) of soft brown sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan/gas mark 4).
- In a mixing bowl, add the flour and the butter and rub them together gently with your fingers. (Ideal for kids!). When it takes a crumbly texture and the fat has mixed with the flour evenly, add the sugar and combine with the rest.
- Wash the plums and put them in a deep pie dish. Sprinkle them with the sugar and cinnamon and mix.
- Cover the fruit with the crumble mixture and bake it for 30 to 40 minutes until the top has lightly browned.
- Serve warm with the contrast of cold neutral-flavour icecream, or a dollop of custard.

Potatoes slow cooked with tomatoes, olives, and bay
A simple side dish from chef Theo Randall that tastes all the better for the longer that it’s cooked.
Ingredients
- 2kg potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks around 3cm
- 4 tbspn olive oil, with extra to serve
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 150g green olives, pitted and halved
- 3 fresh bay leaves
- 600ml tomato passata
- 1 tbspn chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Boil the potatoes in water until cooked. Drain into a colander and leave to one side.
- Add the olive oil to a large frying pan. Add the garlic, olive halves and bay leaves and cook gently for a couple of minutes.
- Add the passata and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cooked potatoes and continue to cook slowly, turning the potatoes occasionally so that they soak up all the flavour from the tomato mix.
- Add the parsley and check the seasoning. Drizzle with a little olive oil and serve.