Almost by definition, brunch is a luxury. I consider any meal that nibbles at the heart of the day luxurious (as is going to the movies in the afternoon) and, by necessity, it mustn’t be tough to pull off. Extra points for a bit of glam. It’s a lot to ask of morning food, but it’s doable with dishes that you can start on early and that later need minimal time away from the table. This dutch baby, piled with everything you’d want on a bagel, and the vegetable crostata with its layer of herbed ricotta are both easy, beautiful and delicious – a brunch trifecta.
Everything bagel dutch baby
This is first-time-cook simple. It channels the classic New York City bagel with smoked salmon, but you could top it with almost anything – try mortadella and torn burrata, or pretend it’s the bowl for a caesar salad. There’s only one rule: you want people gathered so they don’t miss the moment when the extravagantly puffed pancake emerges from the oven.
Prep 15 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 2
For the pancake
4 large eggs (200g), at room temperature
180ml whole milk, at room temperature
100g plain flour
¾ tsp fine sea salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
40g minced mixed fresh herbs, such as dill, chives and coriander
1-2 tbsp everything bagel mix, or 1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 spring onions, trimmed and very thinly sliced
70g butter
To finish (mix and match to taste)
Soft lettuce leaves
4 thin slices smoked salmon (about 115g)
Thinly sliced red onion
Thinly sliced radish
Sliced tomato
Capers, rinsed and patted dry
Olive oil, for drizzling
Creme fraiche
Sprigs of dill
A few chives
Lemon wedges
Put a rack in the middle of the oven and heat it to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Have a 25-30cm cast-iron or other heavy ovenproof pan to hand.
Working with a blender, stand mixer or hand blender, blitz the eggs, milk, flour, salt and pepper until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed. Drop in the herbs, seeds and spring onions, then pulse just to incorporate. If you prefer, mix the batter in a bowl with a whisk, taking care to beat out any clumps of flour.
Cut the butter into a few chunks, toss them into the cast-iron pan and put it it on a medium-high heat. When the butter is melted and bubbling – it’s OK if it browns a bit, too – carefully tilt the pan to coat its base and sides. Pour the batter into the hot pan (it will sizzle), then slide the pan into the hot oven. Close the oven door and don’t open it for at least 15 minutes – the development of the dutch baby’s characteristic mountains and valleys depends on undisturbed heat. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the pancake has puffed up above the rim of the pan, and is firm-ish to the touch, golden and gorgeous. Go by gorgeous – it’s the best test of doneness. While the pancake is baking, prepare your toppings of choice – you’ll be needing them as soon as the pancake is done.
Arrange the lettuce and salmon on the hot pancake, then scatter over the onion, radish, tomato and capers. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and creme fraiche, and finish with the herbs and lemon wedges. Serve immediately.
You could also try …
Omit the everything bagel mix in the pancake and channel a salade Niçoise for the topping – include tuna, tomatoes, black olives, cooked green beans, capers, onions, a little lettuce and a few anchovies; drizzle with creme fraiche.
Omit the everything bagel mix and use chopped basil and/or rosemary in the pancake batter – top with torn pieces of mozzarella and slices of mortadella. Finish with dollops of pesto, a small handful of rocket and a drizzle of olive oil
Ricotta and lemon vegetable crostata
The crostata, like most of my favourite dishes, invites playing around. The most important element is the lemony ricotta filling – I can’t think of anything that it wouldn’t make better – after that, go for whatever’s in season. For now, asparagus and slender leeks make the perfect topping. In summer, tomatoes are stellar. And, when the weather cools, mushrooms, onions and herbs are the ticket. A crown of salad is nice any time, but not necessary.
Prep 20 min
Chill 2 hr
Cook 35 min
Serves 4
500g block shop-bought shortcrust or puff pastry
200g whole-milk ricotta
4 tbsp finely grated parmesan
A small handful of basil leaves, chopped
1 lemon
Salt and black pepper
1 large egg (50g)
8 thin asparagus spears, peeled, woody ends cut off and discarded, the rest trimmed to about 15cm
4 spring onions, cleaned, trimmed to about 10cm and cut in half lengthways
1 small leek, cleaned, trimmed to about 10cm and cut lengthwise into 8
40g cooked edamame, or frozen or cooked peas
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
Pea shoots, sprouts or micro greens, to finish (optional)
Weigh out 425g of the pastry (save the rest for another use), lightly dust it with flour, then roll into a 30cm circle. Slide the pastry round on to a lined baking sheet, then chill for at least two hours.
Put a rack in the middle of the oven and heat it to 210C (190C fan)/400F/gas 6½. Take the pastry out of the fridge and leave it on a counter until it is just warm enough to fold over the edges without cracking. In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, parmesan and basil. Grate in the zest of half the lemon, then squeeze in some of the juice. Cut three or four very thin slices from the remaining half-lemon, cut each slice into a few bite-sized pieces and put to one side. Taste the ricotta, season and add more lemon juice, if you like – it’s nice when the lemon flavour is prominent. Stir in the egg and set aside.
Scrape the ricotta mixture on to the centre of the pastry, then spread it out into a circle, leaving a 5-7cm border all around the edge. Scatter the lemon slices, asparagus, spring onions and leeks over the ricotta – haphazard is the word here – then toss on the edamame.
Lift up the bare edges of the pastry and fold them over the filling. The pastry will pleat by itself as you lift and fold, which is just as it should be – nothing about a crostata is meant to be perfect or neat. Brush or sprinkle the vegetables with the tablespoon of olive oil.
Bake for about 35 minutes, until the crust is golden, the vegetables browned (the leeks and spring may char here and there, but that’s tasty) and the ricotta filling puffed. Drizzle the vegetables and filling with a bit more oil and, if you like, brush some over the crust, too. Top with greens, if using, and serve now or later – happily, this is delicious hot, warm or at room temperature.
You could also try …
The ricotta filling goes well with all kinds of vegetables. I think it could be really nice baked with slices of tomatoes over the ricotta and then, when it comes out of the oven, topped with a chunky tomato and basil salad, maybe dabbed with pesto or covered with parmesan shavings. I always love combining cooked with raw, hot with not.
I also like the idea of sauteing some spinach, cooling it, pressing out the liquid and laying it on the crust before spreading on the ricotta. With that, I’d top the ricotta with sliced onions, spring onions and lots of baby peas and, at serving time, I’d cover the crostata with baby spinach dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. Basil would be good, but I think this combo would be particularly good with dill. Again, untested.
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