Prep time:

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Total time:

Serves: 40

60g Plain Sifted Flour

Salt, Cayenne Pepper

45g Cold Butter, diced

60g Parmesan Cheese, grated

1tsp Black Olives

For the Topping:

15g Parsley

2tbsp Pine Nuts

4tbsp Parmesan, grated

1 Garlic Clove

1tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Creamy Goat's cheese

Caroline Cowan from Brick House Farm now owns The Woolpack Hotel in Tenterden. She’s a great cook and hostess so we asked her to put together some mouthwatering morsels to kick start the winter party season with a culinary bang...

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C
  2. Place flour, pinch salt and cayenne, butter, Parmesan and 1tsp black olives in a food processor. Pulse to form a smooth dough.
  3. Roll out dough on a floured surface to a 0.5cm thickness. Stamp out 40 rounds with a 3.5cm pastry cutter. Place rounds on baking parchment and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  4. Bake until golden brown about 8 minutes. Cool completely before topping.

For the topping:

  1. Place all ingredients, apart from the goat’s cheese, in a food processor and pulse to a thick paste. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Use a teaspoon to top shortbreads with pesto and goat’s cheese. Serve at room temperature.

  • words:
  • pictures: David Merewether

Sausage & apple rolls

Apples go so well with pork and with pastry. Choose a good cooking variety and some high quality sausage meat for these deliciously simple-to-make sausage rolls – perfect to serve at Halloween or Bonfire Night.

Apple, cauliflower & Stilton salad

This crunchy salad is ideal for the autumn – whatever the weather. It is hearty enough to serve for a light lunch or supper on its own, but equally good as a side dish. Use firm, tangy dessert apples like...

Hedgerow harvest cake

Celebrate the season with a delicious combination of fruits and nuts gathered from the hedgerows (or the supermarket). Apple is a very useful ingredient in general for cakes, either grated or as apple purée, as it will help to keep...