As late summer’s warmth begins to fade and the first whispers of autumn arrive, these three recipes capture the perfect transitional moment in seasonal cooking. The roasted onion squash with rainbow chard celebrates the shift from light summer salads to heartier, warming dishes — its jewel-toned vegetables and earthy lentils providing comfort without losing the vibrant colours of the harvest season.
The focaccia with mixed greens and Italian sausage bridges seasons beautifully, combining summer’s leafy greens with the substantial, warming qualities we crave as temperatures drop. Meanwhile, the tenderstem broccoli pasta showcases the magic of new season’s olive oil — that precious first pressing that arrives just as we begin to seek richer, more satisfying meals.
Together, these dishes honour both the final flourish of summer produce and our growing desire for the comforting flavours that sustain us all as the winter slowly approaches. Enjoy.
Roasted onion squash with rainbow chard and blanched radicchio
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Lizzie Mayson
The recipe is a lovely combination of colours and flavours; the balsamic vinegar dressing brings the combination of vegetables to life and the lentils make it that much more satisfying. It makes a great warm autumn salad starter.
- 1 medium size onion squash, peeled, cut in half and deseeded
- 2 heads radicchio
- 100g lentils, De Castellucio or Puy
- 500g rainbow chard stems, cut in to 2cm pieces and leaves cut in to 4cm slices
- 1 tsp thyme
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp chopped parsley
- 2 red chillis, deseeded and finely chopped
- Preheat oven to 180ºC. Cut the onion squash into 2cm half-moon wedges and place in a large bowl with 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well and lay the squash flat on to a roasting tin lined with greaseproof paper.
- Cover with tin foil, ensuring there are no gaps, place in the oven for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil and turn over the squash. Cook for a further 10 minutes, so the squash gets a nice golden colour and goes slightly crispy. Take out of the oven and leave the squash to cool down.
- In a pan of boiling salted water, add the radicchio leaves and cook for 3 minutes after the water has come back to the boil. Drain into a colander and leave to cool down.
- Take a large clean tea towel and place the cooked radicchio leaves on it, roll into a sausage shape and squeeze gently, so the radicchio becomes dry.
- In a pan of boiling salted water, add the rainbow chard stems and cook for 2 minutes, add the rainbow chard leaves and cook for a further 3 minutes. Drain the pan into a colander. Leave the chard to cool down.
- When cool, take a few sheets of kitchen paper and push down on the rainbow chard and stalks, so excess water is released. In a large bowl mix the squeezed radicchio and rainbow chard together with salt pepper and 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and the juice of half a lemon. The radicchio will change colour to a bright crimson when the lemon juice touches it.
- Cook the lentils in a small sauce pan, cover with 5 cm of water. Cook for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender and have a little bite. Drain and season with salt and pepper, keep to one side.
- Serve the dish warm by heating up the squash and lentils and warming the chard and radicchio. Place the squash on the bottom of an oval or large round plate then scatter over the rainbow chard and radicchio and then the warm lentils. Drizzle all over the chilli, parsley, balsamic and olive oil sauce and serve in the middle of the table to share.
Focaccia with mixed greens Italian sausage and smoked scarmoza
Lizzie Mayson
In this rustic focaccia, the combination of blanched kale, spinach, and rocket with smoky scamorza cheese and Italian sausage creates a bread that’s both comforting and vibrant — perfect for sharing as the evenings grow cooler.
- 900g strong white bread flour
- 100g fine semolina flour, plus extra for lining the tray
- 35g fresh yeast or 14g dried yeast
- Pinch of caster sugar
- 30ml extra virgin olive oil
- 600ml warm water
- 150g smoked scarmoza, cut in to 1 cm chunks
- 200g Italian sausage, skins removed and broken up
- 100g wild rocket
- 200g kale
- 200g spinach
- 1 clove garlic
- 1\2 tsp of crushed fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp chopped rosemary
- 1 tbsp olive oil plus 50 ml to pour on top of the focaccia once it has been cooked
- To make the greens, in a pan of boiling salted water blanch the kale for 5 minutes until very tender. Take out with a slotted spoon and place in a colander, Blanch the spinach for a minute after the water comes back to the boil, then remove the spinach with a slotted spoon, add to the colander. Finally, add the rocket to the blanching water, cook for 30 seconds then with a slotted spoon add the cooked rocket to the colander with the cooked kale and spinach. Squeeze all the greens until there is very little water left in them. Roughly chop the squeezed greens on a chopping board.
- In a hot medium size sauce pan, add 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and the sliced garlic, crushed fennel seeds, cook for 30 seconds then add the chopped greens. Cook for 3 minutes and season with salt and pepper, keep to one side.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour and semolina flour together.
- In another bowl mix the yeast with the sugar. Add the salt, olive oil and 600ml of the warm water and mix together.
- Tip the yeast mixture into the flour and mix – by hand or in a food mixer fitted with the dough hook – to a soft but not sticky dough (you may need to add more water or flour).
- Shape into a ball. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the dough to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. During this time, oil a baking tray and sprinkle it with semolina.
- Spread out the dough on the prepared tray to a rough rectangular or square shape, push in the pieces of raw Italian sausage, smoked scarmoza chunks and the cooked chopped greens, so they are pushed to the bottom of the focaccia. This is important otherwise they may burn if they are exposed too much. Sprinkle over the sea salt and chopped rosemary. Leave to prove in a warm place for 10 – 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220°C. Place a tray of water in the bottom of the oven, this will produce moisture, which will help the focaccia rise.
- Bake the focaccia for about 10–15 minutes until golden brown; it should sound hollow when tapped on the base. Drizzle more olive oil all over the top, then leave to cool on a wire rack before cutting.
Theo Randall
Press handout
Tenderstem broccoli purée with mezze maniche pasta, new season’s olive oil and pecorino cheese
New season’s olive oil is one of the highlights of the year. The dark green fresh oil is something very special and in Italy is used in many dishes as soon as it is available. The tenderstem broccoli purée combined with the spicy oil and the short mezze maniche pasta, as pictured at the top of this page. holds the sauce perfectly.
You don’t want to cook the sauce too much as it will take away the flavour of the new oil, so that’s why you should stir in half the sauce as you serve it. Purists would probably not add pecorino, but I love a little bit.
- 400g mezze maniche
- 300g tenderstem broccoli
- 75ml new seasons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 100g grated pecorino cheese
- In a pan of boiling salted water add the tenderstem broccoli and two cloves of garlic. Cook for 10 minutes; the tenderstem should be soft.
- Take the cooked tenderstem and cooked garlic out of the water with a slotted spoon, keeping the cooking water on the stove and place the cooked broccoli and cooked garlic into a liquidiser, take a cupful of the broccoli cooking water and pour into the liquidiser with the cooked tenderstem broccoli and garlic.
- Turn on and puree, the broccoli should be smooth and should easily coat the back of a spoon.
- Take out of the liquidiser and pour the tenderstem purée into a bowl, with a whisk, slowly pour in the new season’s olive oil and whisk, so the sauce absorbs the oil, add salt and pepper and leave to one side.
- In the water you cooked the broccoli, add the mezze maniche and cook for 3 minutes less than the packet suggests.
- Take out the pasta with a slotted spoon or small sieve and place into a hot nonstick frying pan with two ladles of the pasta water. Cook for 1 minute, stirring the pasta with a wooden spoon, then add half the tenderstem broccoli and olive oil purée and cook on a medium heat, stirring the pasta, so the pasta and sauce start to become emulsified and reduced. Check the seasoning and serve in hot pasta bowls with the remaining tender stem puree spooned on top of each portion. Serve with some grated pecorino cheese and black pepper.
Theo Randall is the chef-patron of Theo Randall Cucina Italiana, his restaurant in the InterContinetal on Park Lane, One Hamilton Place, W1J 7QY. For more information, visit theorandall.com
