One pan chicken with creme frâiche, dill and lemon

Plus an apple, rhurbab and hazelnut cake and a super simple roast carrot tart...

Autumn cooking! Hello!

And hello to all of you! It’s been just over a month of me sharing here and there already around 20 recipes! If you’re part of my paid subscriber community, you have access to the full archive!

Today’s collection of recipes is inspired by a recent trip the family and I took to South Gippsland last week. We stayed in the cutest renovated Motel called River Drive about two hours away from Melbourne. We love it there! Lots of nature walks, little grocers and just a nice relaxing vibe.

I picked up some beautiful fresh hazelnuts and rhubarb from The Loch Grocer which inspired the cake. We cracked the hazelnuts, roasted them and then rubbed them whilst still warm in a tea towel to remove the skins.

It’s very fruit-heavy, which I love – some stirred into the batter, some layered in-between the batter and the hazelnut streusel topping. Served still a little warm with lashings of double cream – an absolute treat.

The weather is crisp now in Melbourne. Some sunny days, but mostly chilly and I am craving comforting meals. A quick one pan chicken dish with lemon, creme frâiche and dill ticks the boxes. I served it with silky mash and a dollop of dijon mustard. SO GOOD! For the mash, I’m a pretty simple gal – boiled potatoes which I push through a potato ricer, rather than mashing. A splash of hot milk and a spoonful of butter. Mix well until creamy!

These two recipes are for my paid community! You can subscribe below, if you like! There are monthly and yearly options! Lots more good stuff to come!

And lastly, a nice little tart for all subscribers which utilises good quality store-bought puff pastry! A recipe which came to be because I had both ricotta and creme frâiche left over from the previous two recipes! This is often how new recipes are made in my kitchen! Roasted carrots with a little chilli, honey and fennel seeds. A nice and very simple recipe for right now when carrots are at their best.

On apple cakes, I have another one up at Good Food (and in the Good Weekend Magazine in the paper yesterday)!

Also, this month, a spinach, green olive and artichoke spiral pie!

And as always, my three cookbooks are available online and at all good bookstores. If your local bookstore doesn’t have it, booksellers can order it in and usually love to!

I hope you enjoy!

Julia x

Roast carrot tart 

Serves 6 - 8 

700 g carrots, peeled

Pinch dried red chilli flakes

½ tsp fennel seeds

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

1 tbsp honey

2 tsp red wine vinegar

Sea salt and black pepper, to taste 

Ricotta base

100 g full fat ricotta

80 g creme frâiche

Zest of a lemon, plus extra to serve

25 g parmigiano reggiano, finely grated, plus extra to serve 

Sea salt and black pepper, to taste 

1 x 375 g sheet store-bought puff pastry

1 egg, for egg wash 

Finely chopped parsley, to serve

Preheat the oven to 185C (205C conventional). 

Cut the carrots into thick lengths. This will depend on how large the carrots are, but I would suggest cutting them in half down the middle, then into 8 cm lengths. If the carrots are particularly large, cut those lengths in half again. 

Place them into a bowl with the remaining ingredients and toss to coat. Arrange onto a baking paper-lined tray in a single later. Roast in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until just tender and golden. Set aside to cool. 

For the ricotta mixture, simply combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and season to taste. 

Increase the oven to 200C (220C conventional). 

Line a tray with baking paper and lay out the sheet of puff pastry. Make a cut all around the pastry to form a border, 3 cm from the edge. Spread the ricotta mixture onto the base to the cut you made. Top with the roasted carrots. 

Whisk the egg with 1 tsp of water and brush onto the border. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven to 180C (200C conventional) and cook for another 15 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
Serve with some extra lemon zest and chopped parsley and a grating of parmigiano reggiano. 

Roast Carrot Tart

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