Recipe from the Home Farm Cooking book

20 years after the release of Living & Eating Pawson along with his wife, Catherine, an interiors specialist, who refers to it as her own “cooking bible” is expanding on his 360 degree vision of how food is meant to be enjoyed with a long-awaited follow-up.

Trading the couple’s Notting Hill home for their bucolic 24-acre Cotswolds retreat and the bounty of its surrounding land, Home Farm Cooking will come as a welcome addition to the library of anyone who, like the Pawsons, has set up camp in the countryside since the onset of COVID-19 though urbanites, too, can share in its wide range of dishes and delightful musings on nature.

More than being country cooking, it’s home cooking

Catherine, who first learned to cook from her mother and, over the course of the past year and a half, developed the book’s 100 seasonally-driven recipes—a handful of which she drew from her favorite chefs, including Yotam Ottolenghi, who breaks down a salty anchovy crostini snack, and Violet Bakery’s Claire Ptak, who offers a spin on strawberry clafoutis. Living & Eating devotees, meanwhile, will recognize the likes of a slightly tweaked Yorkshire pudding, and a fish pie to which Catherine has added prawns “to make it extra special,” she writes. As for the Pawsons’ own go-tos? Ricotta-stuffed courgette flowers; a grilled peach salad (the recipe for which is shared below, along with one for Ptak’s classic French dessert); and a nettle risotto that makes John roll back his eyes in mock ecstasy during our Zoom call.

“We don’t like to let a meal pass by without some significance, even if it’s just the two of us,” John adds, noting that Catherine has, only moments before, whipped up a light lunch of ripe cherry tomatoes with feta, basil, avocado, croutons, and walnuts. When I ask on which page it’s to be found, they both chuckle. “It’s not in the book,” Catherine says. “But it was quite delicious actually.” Perhaps it will find its way into the Pawsons’ third cookbook, should they embark on such an endeavor in the next two decades to come. Until then, Home Farm Cooking is sure to sustain you in more ways than one.

They share their favorite recipe

1. Cut the pumpkin in half and empty the inside. If desired, keep the seeds to make smoked paprika pumpkin seeds. Cut the halves into quarters, peel and cut the flesh into cubes.
2. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F). Place the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or reusable baking sheet).
3. Place the pumpkin cubes and chicken breasts on the baking sheet
4. In a small bowl, combine the oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard and maple syrup. Season generously with pepper and add a pinch of salt.
5. Pour half of the dressing over the pumpkin and chicken. Toss to coat.
6. Bake for 40 minutes. Halfway through cooking, flip the chicken and brush the breasts with the dressing on the bottom of the baking sheet. When you come out of the oven, slice the chicken.
7. While the chicken and pumpkin are cooking, prepare the rice. Using a sieve, rinse the rice under cold water and drain.
8. Place the rice and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes covered.
9. Thinly slice the Brussels sprouts and dice the apple.
10. In a large serving plate, combine the hot rice, Brussels sprouts and remaining dressing. Stir in the arugula and pumpkin cubes. Spread the chicken slices, apple cubes and pumpkin seeds on the salad. Serve warm.