Warm Rocket Salad Recipes

Steps:

• Peel, halve, and quarter the onions then quarter again, to give you 8 pieces from each onion. Heat a frying pan and fry off the rashers of pancetta until crisp. Add a couple of lugs of olive oil to the pan, and add the sprigs of thyme, the onions, and pine nuts with a pinch of salt. Toss around and fry on a medium heat for about 5 minutes until caramelized and sweet (not black!).
• Then, throw everything into a salad bowl with the rocket or any nice salad leaves. Drizzle generously with balsamic vinegar, this will make a natural dressing as it mixes with the olive oil. Serve with some shaved Parmesan over the top, you can use a potato peeler to do this. Munch away.

Steps:

• Score the skin of the duck breasts in lines close together. Pat dry with kitchen paper, then sprinkle with seasoning. Put in a frying pan, skin-side down, then gently heat until fat starts to run. Increase heat, fry for 15 mins, draining off the fat as you go. Turn over, cook for 5-10 mins on the other side, depending on how well you like it cooked. Remove from pan, then put on a board lined with kitchen paper. Leave to rest while you prepare the salad.
• Halve and stone the apricots, then cut into thick slices. Cut cucumber into diagonal slices. Separate the Little Gem leaves, divide between 4 bowls, then scatter over the rocket.
• Halve, deseed and dice chillies, then mix with the other dressing ingredients. Thinly slice the duck and divide between bowls, with the cucumber and apricots. Drizzle over the dressing and serve.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Slice the squash into 3cm pieces. Place on a large, greased baking tray and drizzle with 1 tbsp of the oil. Season well and roast for 25 mins or until golden.
• While the squash is roasting, make the vinaigrette. Heat the remaining oil in a small pan. Add the garlic, keeping the heat low, and cook until golden. Remove from the heat and add the vinegar and honey. Return to the heat for 1 min, whisking until the vinaigrette becomes syrupy, then set aside.
• To serve, arrange the rocket and mozzarella on 4 plates. Add mint to the vinaigrette. Divide the squash between the plates and drizzle with the vinaigrette.