This recipe is the perfect for a Boxing Day ritual, made of the previous day’s leftovers and served hot out of the pan with cold cuts of turkey, ham or pheasant and some Piccalilli on the side. We like ours with a poached egg.
Serves 4
Cook the swede: put into a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and cook for about 5 minutes, until just soft. Drain well and then mash with the potatoes. Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of the olive oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic over a medium heat until softened but not coloured, about 5 minutes.
Put the mashed potato and swede into a large bowl and add the softened onion and garlic, chopped chestnuts, leftover green vegetables and parsley; season well with salt and pepper. Divide the mixture evenly into 8 and shape into ‘cakes’ approximately 125g each (you can also make one large cake). Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4.
Spread the polenta out on a plate and dust the cakes with it, pressing them gently into the polenta to form a crust. Heat the remaining olive oil and butter in a large frying pan and pan-fry the cakes over a medium heat for about 4–5 minutes each side, or until crisp and golden. Remove from the pan and transfer to a baking tray. Bake in the oven until hot all the way through, about 30 minutes.
Winter in the Cotswolds is a season of retreat and refuge. Fields lie pale beneath the cold sky, villages seem suspended in stillness and a rare sense of calm and quiet descends over the landscape.
