For the purée

500g Jerusalem artichokes
75ml double cream
80g butter
juice of 1 small lemon
salt and pepper

For the fish

extra virgin olive oil
4 trout fillets
50g butter

For the purée, peel and chop the artichokes then place in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Allow to simmer for around 8-10 minutes until tender. Then drain and puree them with the cream and lemon juice using a blender. Blend until smooth, then transfer to a saucepan with the butter, some salt and pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve.

For the fish, heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Season well and when the oil is nicely hot, add to the pan, skin side down. Cook for 4 minutes until golden brown and so that the fish is nearly cooked. Turn the fillets over and add the butter. Cook for a further 1-2 minutes until cooked through.

Now spoon the puree onto each plate, place the fish on top and serve with salad or seasonal vegetables.

Celebrate the Year of the Dragon

Chinese New Year is one of China’s biggest festivals, beginning this year on Sunday 22nd January (Chinese New Year’s Eve) and lasting around 15 days. The lanterns are lit, red envelopes sealed…but what about the food? Stock up on Oriental essentials with our dedicated section - shop now.

Each year in the Chinese calendar belongs to an animal of the zodiac. This year is the year of the dragon, and those born are said to be innovative, brave, and passionate…

Be innovative: try dimsum…but with traditionally English ingredients. How about spiced leek and potato wontons?
Be brave: try something new – have you discovered the fragrant flavour of fresh bergamot yet?
Be passionate: try the fiery heat of our incredible Calabrian n’duja, delicious in our arancini recipe…

Bite-sized Italian nibbles will make an interesting alternative or addition to traditional dim sum this Chinese New Year. Try , canederli (Italian dumplings with speck), ricotta and parmesan dumplings or arancini (deep fried risotto balls)…

Serves 4

10ml olive oil
160g carnaroli risotto rice
40ml white wine
350ml vegetable stock
30g Parmesan (grated)
40g plain flour
1 egg
80g white breadcrumbs
vegetable oil, enough to deep-fry
salt and pepper
150g n’duja

In a saucepan, gently heat the olive oil. Add the risotto rice to the pan and stir until the rice starts turning opaque at the ends. Add the white wine and stir until absorbed. Then add the stock, a ladle at a time until evaporated. After about 15 minutes, check the rice is cooked and take off the heat.

Add the butter, Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Add the egg and mix well. Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then refrigerate for 10 more minutes until cold.

Now divide into 8 portions. Make a small ball of nduja and surround with rice to make a ball. Lightly dust each ball in flour, then dip into beaten egg and then breadcrumbs.

Heat the vegetable oil to 180C in a deep-fat fryer or medium sized saucepan. Fry the arancini for a few minutes until golden brown, then drain well on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

4 medium eggs
175g light muscovado unrefined cane sugar
160ml sunflower oil
200g self-raising flour
300g purple carrots, grated
1tsp mixed spice
100g flaked almonds
25g Turkish raisins
grated zest of 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4 and grease a loaf tin, then line with baking paper.

Now mix the eggs and sugar in a large bowl, whisking until thick and creamy, then gradually add in the sunflower oil. Sieve the flour into the mixture and gently blend together. Add the rest of the ingredients.

Finally, pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until firm to touch and golden brown.

For a luxurious finishing touch, ice it with cream cheese mixed with a little icing sugar once cool.

Striking and delicious, purple carrots will make a wonderful change, not only for their glorious colour but also their incredible flavour. Find out why our purple carrots aren’t such a novelty food…

Taste: These refreshingly sweet and juicy purple carrots are famous for their striking colour and high nutritional value. They are full of vitamins and fibre, and beautiful too with an orange heart gradually fading into deep purple.

Region: Long before the 17th century, when Dutch growers selected the orange carrot line to celebrate their national colour, the purple carrot existed across Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. Ours come from France, where the fertile soil conveys all its nutrients to this amazing carrot.

Quality: We only source the finest grade available on the market. Our purple carrots are fresh and juicy. Our buyers only select what is looking and tasting best!

Cost: We always let you know the price per kg so you can easily compare our prices. You will struggle to find this variety anywhere else!

Natoora “Purple Carrots” £2.75/500g or save 10% when you buy 1kg

Buy purple carrots online today

Prices checked on 19/01/2012

Natoora’s Market Report

It’s time to whip out the jam pot again – fantastic Seville oranges are now in season and ready to make the most fantastic marmalade. These glorious knobbly oranges have a thick skin and incredibly perfumed zest. Extremely bitter, they are best enjoyed in marmalade, but also used to create flavoured oils, sorbets, and orange curd.

They are only available for a short time so make sure you don’t miss out – buy today!

BUY NOW – £2.85/kg

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Serves: 4

12 scallops
4 rosemary stalks, leaves removed, but kept
pared zest and juice of 2 amalfi lemons
12 bay leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Thread 3 scallops onto each rosemary stalk, alternating with three pieces of lemon zest and three bay leaves. Put the skewers in a roasting tin.

Pound the rosemary leaves and oil together (in a pestle and mortar if you have one) until fine and pour over the scallops. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and leave to marinate for 20 minutes.

Then preheat the oven to 200C. Season the rosemary skewers and put the roasting tin in the oven to bake for eight minutes only.

Enjoy!

Natoora’s Market Report

The Kaffir Lime might not win any beauty contests with their knobbly skin and their small size, but what they lack in looks, they more than make up for in flavour. The peel and zest are full of a rich, exotic fragrance, simply incomparable to standard limes. Usually just the zest and rind are used as they don’t yield much juice and it is extremely powerful. Their intense, perfumed flavour is best suited to Thai cooking, where they are extremely prized.

These wonderful fresh limes are almost impossible to find anywhere else!

BUY NOW, 75p each!

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Lemons are an absolute kitchen essential and that’s why it’s so important to us to sell only the very best. We just love our Amalfi lemons – they taste fantastic, are larger than many supermarket varieties and have an aromatic unwaxed zest which makes them superb for cakes. Not only are they superb quality, they are extremely good value! Read on to find out more…

Taste: Gorgeously juicy and fragrant smelling, our Amalfi Lemons are extremely popular with chefs. Their bright, sunshine yellow zest is aromatic and unwaxed so it’s perfect for cakes and grating over fish. The pulp is sweetly bitter, with moderate acidity and very few pips.

Region: Our lemons are grown along the sun-drenched Amalfi coast in the Campania region of Southern Italy, in particular around the towns of Ravello, Positano and Amalfi of course. This fantastic citrus fruit was firstly introduced there by the Arabs, who found in the Amalfi coast the best conditions for growing these beautifully scented lemons, now renowned world-wide.

Quality: We only select the best quality lemons at the market, and we have sourced this variety in particular as it is one of the best lemons around with its sweet pulp, unwaxed skin and abundance of essential oils.

You’ll struggle to find lemons of this size and quality in any supermarket!

For more information and to buy, click here.

Using a salt crust will make your fish incredibly flavoursome and succulent. Just a dash of good quality olive oil and lemon juice will finish the dish perfectly.

a generous amount of coarse sea salt
200ml water
1 whole red snapper
1 lemon
bunch of fresh thyme or wild fennel
extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 180C.

In a bowl stir together the salt and water until combined.

On a large baking sheet spread half of salt mixture in a rectangle just larger than the red snapper and set fish on top.

Halve the lemon crosswise and cut 3 slices from 1 half, reserving the remaining half. Insert the slices into the cavity of the fish and fill with the herbs. Pat the rest of the salt mixture over fish to cover completely and bake in middle of of the oven for 30 minutes.

Tap all around the edge of the salt crust with the back of a large spoon to loosen, then lift the top off. Squeeze the juice from your reserved lemon half over the fish, drizzle with olive oil and carefully lift off the bottom crust. Serve with buttery seasonal vegetables and new potatoes.