A day out gathering winter fuel calls for a scrumptious and sustaining picnic
|
Menu
Smoked Salmon Pâté
Bacon, Egg & Potato Pies
Spiced Roast Pumpkin & Chickpea Salad
Pastrami & Red Pepper Wraps
Pear, Honey & Almond Tart
|
Picnic plan:
1-2 days ahead: Make the pâté, pies and pear tart.
Night before: Make pumpkin salad and the wraps.
Packing up: Transport the pâté, pies, salad and wraps in a cooler bag and the tart in an airtight container. Don’t forget to take bread or crackers to serve with the pâté, some chutney for the pies, and yoghurt and honey for the tart if desired.
Bacon, Egg and Potato Pies
Enjoy these pies warm or cold with your favourite chutney.
 |
- 1½ sheets savoury short pastry
- 2 medium potatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 rashers streaky bacon
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 4 eggs
- 1⁄³ cup cream
|
Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray a large 6-hole (Texas) muffin pan. Cut pastry into 6 even squares and press each square into a muffin hole. Chill.
Peel and dice potatoes and simmer or microwave until just tender. Drain.
Heat oil in a frying pan and fry bacon strips until golden. Set aside on paper towels. In the same pan, sauté onion, garlic and potatoes for 2-3 minutes until the onion has softened. Remove from pan and cool.
Divide the potato mixture between the pastry cases and arrange a strip of bacon in each one.
Whisk the eggs and cream together, seasoned with salt and pepper. Carefully pour into pie cases and bake 20 minutes or until pastry is golden and egg is set. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Makes 6
Smoked Salmon Pâté
Serve this delicious, easy dip with bread or crackers. Brined green peppercorns are available at larger supermarkets. Dill paste (in tubes, from the vegetable department) is a convenient alternative to the fresh herb.
 |
- 100g smoked salmon slices
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1 teaspoon (drained) green peppercorns
- 250g spreadable cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon chopped dill
- 1 lemon, juice and finely grated zest
- Olive oil, peppercorns, fresh dill and cracked pepper for garnish
|
Finely chop the salmon, capers and peppercorns. Place in a food processor with cream cheese, dill, lemon juice and zest and mix until smooth. Spoon into a serving dish and garnish with a swirl of olive oil, a few peppercorns, sprigs of dill and cracked pepper. Serves 6
Spiced Roast Pumpkin and Chickpea Salad
Serve this bright, interesting salad warm or cold. Packs of three cooked chorizo can usually be found near the salamis in the chilled section at supermarkets; Moroccan seasoning (sometimes called ras el hanout in specialist shops) is in the spice section. If you don’t have lemon-infused oil you could use plain olive oil and add a little lemon zest.
|
|
-
¼ cup olive oil
-
1 tablespoon Moroccan seasoning
-
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
-
700-800g pumpkin, peeled and diced
-
2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
-
1 red onion, cut into wedges
-
3 small cooked chorizo sausages, sliced
-
½ cup pumpkin seeds
-
2 oranges, peeled and diced
-
2 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs, eg, parsley, rosemary, coriander, mint
Dressing:
|
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Combine oil, Moroccan seasoning and paprika. Toss pumpkin, chickpeas and onion in oil mixture and place in a large roasting dish. Bake 20 minutes then add chorizo and pumpkin seeds and roast a further 5-10 minutes until pumpkin is tender.
Combine dressing ingredients and season well with salt and pepper. Toss warm roasted vegetables with dressing then fold in oranges and sprinkle with herbs. Serves 6-8
Pastrami and Red Pepper Wraps
Large round wraps make wonderful rolled sandwiches that are fabulous for portable feasts. We used Farrah wraps but there are other good brands available from both supermarkets and delis. Look for sun-dried tomato flavour.
|
|
-
125g spreadable cream cheese
-
100g creamy feta
-
Freshly ground or cracked pepper
-
4 wraps, sun-dried tomato flavour
-
120g mixed baby spinach and rocket leaves
-
4 chargrilled peppers (from a jar or deli), drained and cut into strips
-
100-120g pastrami |
Combine the cream cheese and feta and season with pepper. Place a wrap on a clean surface and spread a generous half of the wrap with about a quarter of the feta mixture. Top with a quarter of the spinach and rocket leaves then arrange strips of pepper and slices of pastrami on top. Aim to keep topping ingredients on half the wrap only, evenly distributed. This makes it easier to roll neatly.
Starting from the filling side, roll up the wrap, gathering all the ingredients into a tight roll. Spread the final tip of the circle with a little cream cheese to seal the end. Wrap in plastic film and repeat with remaining 3 rolls. Chill in fridge for at least an hour before slicing. Serve cut in half or into 6-8 for sushi-style portions. Makes 4 large rolls
Pear, Honey and Almond Tart
This lovely tart transports well for picnics but is elegant enough to serve at a dinner party. Choose a flavoursome honey; we used J Friend & Co Beechwood Honeydew (from nzartisanhoney.co.nz).
|
|
- 1 sheet sweet short pastry
- 100g butter, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 eggs
- 140g (2 packets) ground almonds
- ¼ cup flour
- 4-5 small firm ripe pears (or drained canned pears)
- ¼ cup whole blanched almonds
- 2 teaspoons extra sugar for sprinkling
|
Preheat oven to 175°C. On a floured surface, roll out pastry sheet thinly to fit a 28cm round shallow tart tin or similar. Chill while preparing filling.
Cream butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add honey and eggs, beating between each. Fold in almonds and flour. Spoon mixture into chilled pastry case and smooth top.
Peel and core pears, cut into quarters and arrange over tart. Dot the filling with whole almonds and sprinkle over extra sugar (use less with canned pears). Bake 30-40 minutes until pastry is golden and filling is puffed and set.
Allow tart to cool before cutting into pieces to serve. If desired, accompany with yoghurt with a swirl of honey mixed through it. Serves 8-10
Story: Jo Wilcox
Photographs: Kieran Scott
Stylist: Claudia Kozub
| 
|
|
