CIABATTA TOAST RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. There are certain winning combos that work every time; best friends that will never let you down and give you big bang for your buck. This recipe is easy to scale up so adapt it for however many people you’ve got coming round.
  2. Add ½ a teaspoon of creamed horseradish to ½ a small tub of crème fraîche. Sprinkle in a small pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice then mix well. Taste to check its hot enough. Cut a loaf of ciabatta into 1cm thick slices, toast or griddle them then drizzle over a little extra virgin olive oil. Top with waves of smoked salmon (a 300g pack is perfect here) Add a dollop of horseradish crème fraîche to each toast then snip over ½ a punnet of cress. Finish with a tiny drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a little squeeze of lemon juice. Delicious.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Put the sweet potato and butternut squash on a baking tray and add the honey and a drizzle of olive oil. Roast for 40-45 mins until soft and starting to caramelise at the edges, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, fry the onions in 1 tbsp olive oil until soft, then add the garlic, chicken stock, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 5 mins.
• Remove the sweet potatoes and butternut squash from the oven and add to the pan with the stock. Blend everything until smooth using a stick blender. Stir in most of the cream and bring back to a gentle simmer, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• To make the lemon & garlic toasts, gently warm the olive oil and garlic in a pan over a low heat for a few mins; the garlic should be softened but not browned. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter and lemon zest until smooth. Leave to cool, then stir in the chives and thyme.
• Toast the ciabatta slices, and top each with a spoonful of garlic butter. Serve with the soup, drizzled with the remaining cream, and some black pepper.