Easter recipes from Pub in the Park St Albans co-hosts The Hairy Bikers and chef Paul Ainsworth

Celebrity chefs The Hairy Bikers, aka Dave Myers and Si King, and Michelin-starred chef Paul Ainsworth have shared some delicious Easter lunch recipes in the run-up to the much-anticipated Pub in the Park festival in St Albans.

The Hairy Bikers will be co-hosting Pub in the Park St Albans this year from September 9 to September 11, with The Mariners by Paul Ainsworth serving up mouthwatering food you won't want to miss.

To tickle your tastebuds for Pub in the Park's return to Hertfordshire, top Geordie chefs The Hairy Bikers have shared a warming squash, lime and chilli soup to start Easter lunch at home with a bang.

This recipe was inspired by Mexican tortilla soup, so a burst full of flavour is guaranteed.

For an unforgettable main course there's the perfect Sunday roast with roast potatoes and all the trimmings,

Paul Ainsworth has shared The Mariners' mouthwatering Sunday Roast Beef, with beef ragu, Yorkshire puddings, cauliflower cheese, roasted vegetables and gravy. Yum!

Recipes

The Hairy Bikers' Squash, Lime and Chilli Soup (vegan)

Serves 4

This recipe was inspired by Mexican tortilla soup and it has a great spicy vibe.

Any sort of chilli paste is fine – we like to use chipotle for its smoky flavour and it works so well with the lime zest and juice to bring this soup to life.

And if you fancy, you can replace half the vegetable stock with a can of coconut milk.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp coconut or olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 500g squash or pumpkin, peeled and diced
• 250g cauliflower florets, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1-3 tsp chilli paste, to taste
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• 800ml vegetable stock
• Sea salt and black pepper

To garnish (optional)

• 1 tsp oil
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• ½ tsp chilli paste
• Fresh coriander leaves

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and the squash or pumpkin and cook over a medium-high heat, stirring regularly, for several minutes until they start to caramelise.

Add the cauliflower and garlic and cook for a few minutes, then stir in the chilli paste and lime zest. Season well with salt and pepper.

When the vegetables are well coated with the chilli paste, pour in the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are completely tender – this should take about 15 minutes.

Blend the soup until smooth. Taste and add some of the lime juice – you may only need half of it to get the right balance of acidity.

For the garnish, if using, heat the oil in a small pan, add the pumpkin seeds and fry for a minute.

Loosen the chilli paste with any remaining lime juice, then add it to the pumpkin seeds. Stir-fry the seeds until they look dry and roasted.

Serve the soup topped with a sprinkling of the pumpkin seeds and/or a few coriander leaves, if you like.

The Hairy Bikers will be appearing at Pub in the Park Festival. Tickets and further info available at www.pubintheparkuk.com. Recipe extract taken from The Hairy Bikers’ Everyday Winners by Si King and Dave Myers, published by Seven Dials in hardback at £22, photography by Andrew Hayes-Watkins.

The Mariners' Sunday Roast Beef

The beef gravy and beef ragu can both be made the day before.

We would recommend roasting the potatoes first, then making the cauliflower cheese, then roasting the carrots, followed by the beef.

Once the beef is resting, make the Yorkshire puddings. While the Yorkshire puddings are roasting, make the green beans.

Once the Yorkshire puddings are out of the oven, put all vegetables back in oven to warm up for 5 minutes.

Serve the beef on top of the beef ragu.

Beef Gravy

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 200g beef trimmings
• 4 large shallots, peeled and sliced
• 12 white peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 thyme sprig
• A pinch sea salt
• Splash of red wine vinegar
• 1 x 750ml bottle red wine
• 750ml beef stock
• 50g unsalted butter

Method
Heat the oil in a large pan.

Fry the beef trimmings for a few minutes until browned on all sides.

Stir in the shallots with the peppercorns, bay, thyme and sea salt and continue to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the shallots turn golden brown.

Pour in the vinegar and let it bubble for a few minutes until almost dry.

Now add the wine and boil until almost completely reduced.

Add the stock and bring to the boil again.

Lower the heat and simmer gently for 1 hour, removing any scum from the surface of the sauce, until you have the desired consistency.

Strain the liquid through a fine sieve lined with muslin and whisk in your butter.

Check for seasoning and set aside.

Beef Ragu

Ingredients:

• 2 kg picked featherblade of beef
• 1 head of celery, peeled and diced
• 3 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 large onions, peel and diced
• Bacon- finely diced – 250g
• 4 large beef tomatoes-concassed
• 1kg reduced beef stock
• Red wine 1 bottle
• Balsamic vinegar – 150g
• 200g tomato passata
• 1 tbsp tomato puree

Method
Preheat over to 110degC.

Season the featherblade and then roast in pan, until nice and even golden colour all around.

Add in one onion, two carrots and one stick of celery alongside the garlic, rosemary and thyme.

Transfer to an ovenproof dish then cover the featherblade and vegetables with stock.

Wrap tightly in tinfoil and cook until tender and soft, this should take about 5 hours (and can be done overnight).

Bring a pan of water up to boil.

Cut the core out of the beef tomatoes and criss cross the bottom.

Plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for ten seconds, then remove and place into ice water.

Put a wide heavy-based pan onto high heat, once hot add tablespoon of vegetable oil, then add the bacon and roast.

Once roasted, turn heat down to medium, add the onions let them cook for a couple of minutes.

Then add in celery and carrot.

After two minutes add in tomato puree and let cook for three minutes, always stirring.

Then add in the red wine, ½ a bottle at a time.

Then add the balsamic and reduce.

Once reduced down, add in tomato passata, then reduce down by half.

Once the meat is cooked, take the featherblade out of the liquor, and pass the liquid through a strainer and pour into the pan.

Reduce the liquid down by half until it is nice and thick and can coat the meat.

Now pick the featherblade into strands and place into the pan

Meanwhile peel the tomatoes, deseed them, cut into four, then cut each ‘petal’ into rough dice.

Then mix the tomatoes into the featherblade mix.

Roast potatoes

Ingredients

• 8 large Maris Piper potatoes
• 20g fine salt
• 20g ground turmeric
• 200g beef dripping

Method
Pre-heat oven to 180 degC.

Peel and quarter the potatoes.

Place the potatoes into a pan of seasoned water and bring up to a boil. Then turn down to simmer.

Simmer until the potatoes are nicely cooked, for around 15 minutes.

Once the potatoes are cooked, pour them into a large colander to drain and fluff them up by gently rolling them around the colander.

Place the beef dripping into large roasting tray and place into the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Mix the turmeric and salt together.

Now season the potatoes with the turmeric and salt mix.

Place the potatoes into the hot fat, rolling them all around the fat so that all of the potatoes are covered.

Place the potatoes in the oven.

Turn the potatoes every 15 minutes until evenly roasted all over, this should take around 45 minutes.

Cauliflower Cheese

Ingredients

• 2 x large cauliflowers
• 250g Butter
• 250g Plain flour
• 2L whole milk
• 10g Dijon mustard
• 10g wholegrain mustard
• 10g English mustard
• 10g Worcestershire sauce
• Salt to taste
• ¼ whole nutmeg finely grated
• 500g cheddar finely grated
• 200g parmesan finely grated
• ¼ bunch rosemary
• ¼ bunch thyme
• ½ head garlic

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degC.

Start by bringing a large pan of heavily seasoned water up to the boil.

In a separate pan heat up the milk gently with the nutmeg, rosemary and thyme, and infuse for ten minutes.

Meanwhile melt the butter in another pan.

Once the butter has melted add the flour. The flour will form a ball and look like wet sand.

Cook the flour and butter on a gentle low heat for 5 minutes to cook out the flour.

Pass the milk through a sieve and slowly add to the butter and flour mix, a large ladleful at a time.

Once all the milk has all been added and incorporated into the sauce add the cheese, mustards and the Worcestershire sauce.

Once all the cheese is melted, taste and season.

Cut the cauliflower into florets, place into the boiling seasoned water and cook until soft, for roughly 5 minutes.

Drain the cauliflower, place into an ovenproof dish, pour cheese sauce over and bake for 45 minutes until golden brown.

Roasted Carrots

Ingredients

• 12 large carrots
• ¼ bunch rosemary
• ¼ bunch thyme
• Vegetable oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• ½ head of garlic

Method
Heat the oven to 180 degC.

Bring a large pan of seasoned water up to boil.

Peel the carrots and cut into large slices on an angle.

Place the carrots into the boiling water and cook until soft, this should take around 10 minutes.

Once cooked and soft, drain the carrots and place into a large bowl.

Season with salt, garlic, rosemary, thyme and pepper.

Drizzle with oil and mix well.

Spread the carrots onto roasting tin and cook for around 30 minutes, until nicely roasted.

Roast beef

Ingredients

• 6 large red onions, peeled and cut into quarters
• 1kg sirloin of beef
• Fine salt
• Pepper
• English mustard
• 400g double cream
• 250g horseradish sauce
• 1 lemon

Method
Pre heat oven to 180 degC.

Place the onions onto roasting tray.

Season the beef with fine salt all over.

Place the beef into a hot pan, fat side down, to seal. Once the beef is sealed all over, place in the roasting tray on top of the onions.

Then place into a pre-heated oven and roast for around 20-25 minutes.

Check the temperature of the beef with a probe in the centre – it should be 45 degC for the beef to be cooked medium.

Let the beef rest for 30 minutes and then slice to serve, use the red onions too.

To make the horseradish cream whip the cream to soft peaks, fold through the horseradish, add the lemon zest and season with fine salt.

Yorkshire Pudding

Ingredients

• 1 pint of beaten eggs
• 1 pint of whole milk
• 1 pint of flour
• Beef dripping

Method
Pre heat oven to 210 degC.

Crack the eggs into a pint glass, fill to the top, then pour into a bowl.

Fill a pint glass with whole milk, pour into the eggs and whisk well.

Fill a pint glass with plain flour and pour into the eggs and milk, whisk really well and make sure there are no lumps.

Pour into a jug and store in the fridge for later.

Place one spoon of beef dripping per Yorkshire pudding mould.

Place tray into oven for ten minutes.

Once hot, take the tray out of the oven, and quickly pour mix in until each mould is 3/4 full.

Place back into centre of oven.

Turn down to 190 degC and cook for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden brown, making sure not to open the door during cooking, as the Yorkshire puddings will sink if you do.

Green Beans

Ingredients

• 3 bunches large green beans
• 1 lemon
• 100g butter
• Sea salt
• Cracked black pepper
• Fine salt

Method
Bring a large pan of seasoned water to the boil.

Prep the green beans by cutting tops and bottoms off.

Place the beans into the pan and cook for three minutes.

Meanwhile gently melt the butter in a separate pan.

Once the green beans are cooked, drain and toss in the butter.

Finely zest the lemon onto the green beans and season with sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Recipe by Paul Ainsworth, as prepared by Head Chef at The Mariners, Joe Rozier.

The Mariners will be appearing at Pub in the Park festival. Tickets and further info available at https://www.pubintheparkuk.com/