A rainy Easter long weekend can sometimes feel inevitable in Australia. But for those lucky enough to get time off, the rain only makes the sunny patches sweeter for picnics and alfresco dining (just make sure to pack a tarp as well as a blanket).
While there are no hard and fast rules about what qualifies as picnic food, the best dishes are unfussy to prepare, easy to transport and can be eaten at room (or ambient) temperature. They should also require minimal cutlery (at most, a fork and plate). As far as picnic menus go, a muffuletta is a no-brainer (I like to think of it as a savoury sandwich cake), an autumnal cauliflower salad keeps it wholesome, while a dense chocolate brownie is not. A sandwich, a salad and a brownie – it’s a three-part package that just works, whatever the weather.
Naomi Crisante’s mighty muffuletta
The muffuletta is surely one of the world’s greatest sandwiches. I have fond memories of getting our taxi to stop at the Central Grocery store in New Orleans on our way to the airport to pick one up before we left that vibrant city. This layered wonder is perfect picnic food and it’s worth making extra olive salad to keep in the fridge, for sandwich emergencies. – Naomi Crisante
Serves 4
Prep: 15 minutes (plus 30 minutes standing)
1 loaf round Italian-style bread
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Vinegar, from giardiniera mixed pickles (see olive salad ingredients)
100g smoked ham, thinly sliced
100g sopressa, thinly sliced
100g mortadella, thinly sliced
150g provolone cheese, thinly sliced
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the olive salad
350g jar giardiniera mixed pickles and vinegar, chopped
1 cup pitted green olives, chopped
1 cup pitted black kalamata olives, chopped
2 tbsp capers
4 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
To make the olive salad, combine all the ingredients and refrigerate until required. (This makes three-and-a-half cups, which is more than you need for the muffuletta. The salad will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a month.)
To assemble the muffuletta, cut the bread loaf in half horizontally and remove some of the centre. Drizzle the insides of the bread with olive oil and some vinegar.
On one bread half, scatter a half-cup of olive salad and layer with ham, salami, mortadella, provolone, another cup of olive salad and parsley leaves, and season with pepper. Place other bread half on top, then wrap in clingfilm and weigh down with a heavy frypan for at least 30 minutes to compress the sandwich. Cut into quarters and serve.
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This is an edited extract from Tasteful by Naomi Crisante, available now through Dean Publishing ($49.99)
Yotam Ottolenghi’s cauliflower, pomegranate and pistachio salad
It was a little moment of revelation, I remember, when I first combined roasted cauliflower and raw grated cauliflower in the same dish. So different from one another, but working so well combined. This is lovely as it is, served as part of a spread, or spooned alongside some roast chicken or lamb. Don’t throw away the leaves of the cauliflower here. They’re lovely to eat, roasted and crisp, or grated raw as you would the rest of the cauliflower. If you want to get ahead, roast the cauliflower up to four to six hours in advance. Keep at room temperature and then just combine with the remaining ingredients when ready to serve. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Serves 4
1 large cauliflower (800g)
1 medium onion, roughly sliced (130g)
80ml olive oil
25g parsley, roughly chopped
10g mint, roughly chopped
10g tarragon, roughly chopped
Seeds from ½ medium pomegranate (80g)
40g pistachio kernels, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1½ tbsp lemon juice
Salt
Preheat the oven to 200C fan.
Coarsely grate a third of the cauliflower and set aside in a bowl. Break the remaining cauliflower into florets, roughly 3cm wide, and add these to a separate bowl with the cauliflower leaves (if you have any) and onion. Toss everything together with two tablespoons of oil and a quarter teaspoon of salt, then spread out on a large parchment-lined baking tray. Roast for about 20 minutes, until cooked through and golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Once cool, put the roasted vegetables into a large bowl with the remaining 50ml oil, the grated cauliflower and the remaining ingredients, along with a quarter teaspoon of salt. Toss gently, just to combine, then transfer to a platter and serve.
Fitwaffle’s five-ingredient brownies
If you want a super quick and easy brownie, this is the recipe for you. With just five ingredients, these brownies taste absolutely amazing – they’re packed with chocolate chips and are chocolatey and fudgy, with a light crackly top. Perfect for baking if you’re in a rush, low on ingredients or just want to have a really chilled day in the kitchen. – Eloise Head AKA Fitwaffle
Makes 16
Prep and cooking: 30 minutes (plus 2-3 hours, or overnight, cooling)
370g chocolate spread (1¼ cups)
2 large eggs
65g plain flour (½ cup)
½ tsp salt
120g milk or dark chocolate chips (9 tbsp)
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and line a 20cm square baking tin with nonstick baking paper.
Put the chocolate spread and eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat together with an electric hand mixer until fully combined. Add the flour and salt and fold in with a wooden flour spoon or rubber spatula. Then fold in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Scoop the batter into your prepared tin and spread it out evenly with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 20 minutes until a light, crackly crust forms. Leave to cool completely in the tin for two to three hours or chill in the refrigerator overnight for extra fudgy and delicious brownies. Cut into 16 squares and serve. The brownies will store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or at room temperature for up to five days.
