Refined outdoor dining is guaranteed with Marina Filippelli’s delightful dishes.
Asparagus & gruyère tartlets
These are so quick to make, especially if you buy ready-rolled pastry. The recipe makes four tartlets, which would satisfy two people if you’re not serving much else. If you’re eating them as part of a larger spread, one tart per person will be plenty.
Courgette, chickpea & feta salad
Delicious warm as a light dinner or at room temperature when on a picnic. The beauty is that the flavours get better the longer it sits. I like to eat it with some peppery wild rocket leaves, served on the side (keeping it separate stops the leaves wilting on the way to the picnic).
Grilled aubergine sandwiches with caper, olive & herb salsa
Silky soft marinated aubergines are one of my favourite things – that and salsa verde, which this salsa is a variation of. I could eat this combination every day and never tire of it.
Roasted squash & onion frittata
Squash, red onion and coriander is one of my favourite flavour combinations.
Classic scotch eggs
The quintessential British picnic snack. I like to keep my egg yolks a little runny, which means the shelled eggs will be quite soft, and may be tricky to handle when putting the scotch eggs together – but I hope you’ll agree it’s worth the extra effort.
Labneh, dukkah, salted cucumber & radishes
Dukkah is an amazing flavour booster that can inject wonderfulness to pretty much anything it touches. The recipe makes more than you’ll need, so store any leftovers in a jar to stir into salads, scatter over chicken before roasting, serve with olive oil and bread or simply snack on straight out of the jar when nobody’s looking.
Blueberry & raspberry loaf cake
No cake is easier to pack for a picnic than a loaf cake. This one has a light moist crumb and a lovely crunchy top. Serve on its own, or with a thick Greek or coconut yogurt.
Passionfruit, coconut & lime batida
This drink is adapted from the Brazilian cachaça cocktail, which is traditionally made with either passionfruit, limes or coconut. Make it in a large screw-top jar or bottle with a wide enough opening for the ingredients to go in easily.
Buy the book
Our recipes are from Foolproof Picnic by Marina Filippelli, which will be published on 9 June by Quadrille, price £12.99. To pre-order a copy for £11.04 until 6 June, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Free p&p on orders over £20.
