Author Archives: Kim Hartshorne

Pastries at Village Greens

We have the most delicious Apple turnovers and Bakewell tarts available in the shop Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (Friday and Saturday to order)

Our amazing almond and almond and rhubarb croissants are available every Friday and Saturday, if you normally have a delivery Wednesday or Thursday and miss out on our croissants drop us a message and we can always do a special bake (with notice)

Of course we have our various homemade biscuits and savoury crackers that can be added to your box.

This week’s cheeses – Truffle Trove, Cricket St Thomas Brie, Montagnolo, Colston Bassett

You can now add our Christmas cheeses to your orders. They are all dated into next year so perfect if you want to get ahead.

Our Christmas cheeses for you to choose from –

Snowdonia Truffle Trove cheese, which luxuriously combines Italian Black Summer truffles with extra mature Cheddar encased in pure white wax, the cheese has a distinctive earthy aroma and a perfectly balanced flavour, with undertones of wild mushroom and hazelnut leading to notes of garlic, £7.00 150g truckle.

Cricket St Thomas Brie, rich and creamy with a soft edible white rind. A British alternative to the famous French classic, with a notable flavour difference which is the result of its local milk and production process.

Montagnolo a very mild blue and creamy cheese from Germany, It is made with triple cream and has just a hint of blueness in its flavour. The cheese itself is intensely buttery with slight spicy undertones and a hint of salt. It has all of the creaminess of a ripe brie sitting alongside the delicate bite of a blue cheese.

Colston Bassett Stilton is now available approx 250g £9, Colston Bassett Dairy is the home of traditional Stilton, their dairy has been making outstanding cheese for over one hundred years. The farming co-operative which was first established in 1913, is still in operation today. The Dairy developed from the vision of a local doctor, Dr William Windley – and they continue to make their cheese in the traditional way, using milk from local farms – all within 1.5 miles of the dairy in the Vale of Belvoir.

This Week’s Boxes

This week both our £25 and £15 boxes contain all the ingredients to make one of our favourites soups – Leek and potato. We are big fans of Darina Allen who is a great ambassador for eating seasonally. With only 4 ingredients, this delicious soup just needs a little care and attention to detail. If the leeks are overcooked they can become a little bitter and if the soup is over blended it can become a little gloopy. If you follow the recipe exactly the results are delicious. We have also included a pot of Longley Farm single cream, which takes this recipe to the next level.

We have included new season Spanish pomegranates in both our boxes. There is an old story that the pomegranate has twelve sections representing the twelve months of the year, and another that its hundreds of seeds represent the days of the year. It is only folklore rather than fact, but my dad used to tell us this story and I always think of it when eating pomegranates. You can sprinkle the ruby-red seeds over yoghurt or porridge, add them to a salad, or simply eat them straight from the fruit.

We have also included delicious new season English Red Windsor apples this week, this early season apple is a real favourite, crisp, sweet, juicy with a good old fashioned apple flavour.

The contents of the boxes appear below the gallery.

Our £15 box (ideal for 2/3 people

Washed main crop potatoes (R)
Sweet potato
Longley farm single cream (R)
Onion (R)
Broccoli
Leek (R)
Cauliflower
New season English Red Windsor apples
New season English conference pears
Nadacots
Spanish pomegranate

(R) items needed for the recipe

Our £25 box (ideal for a family of 4) contains all of the above in larger quantities plus

Blueberries
Oak leaf lettuce
Avocado

Cranberries in stock

Fresh cranberries have arrived, perfect for freezing ready for Christmas £3.20 for 340g fresh from Wisconsin USA, Cranberries are grown on 21,000 acres across 20 counties in Wisconsin. The sand and peat marshes in central and northern Wisconsin create the perfect growing conditions for them. 

We have a delicious very easy Cranberry sauce recipe which can be made and frozen. Just one more Christmas job out of the way.

Cranberries are not just for cranberry sauce, add to cocktails or champagne, delicious in cakes and muffins, add to apple crumble. 

We will also be making our Cranberry Croissants from next week.

La Tua Pasta

Shin Beef and Red Wine Tortelloni – This special  Tortelloni is filled with slow-cooked ox cheek (a premium and lean cut of beef) marinated in red wine and then slowly braised to ensure the most incredible depth of flavour and melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli – Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli is the most traditional and well-known Italian variety of ravioli. The delicious and creamy filling is made from scratch in the La Tua’s London kitchen by cooking whole spinach leaves with a bit of garlic and then adding fresh ricotta cheese and Italian grated cheese. This filling is a firm favourite which is only reflected by the number of awards it’s acquired. We suggest serving up with olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano or gently coating with a Sage Butter Sauce.

Pumpkin & Ricotta Tortelloni -This filling is made by oven-roasting pumpkin, then add delicate ricotta cheese, Italian grated cheese, and a touch of nutmeg. Try this Pumpkin & Ricotta Tortelloni with Village Sage Butter  and Parmigiano Reggiano for a restaurant-quality dining experience! Suitable for vegetarians. Suitable for freezing.

Beetroot & Ricotta Ravioli -The filling is made with fresh beetroot roasted in the oven and mixed with delicious French goats’ cheese in order to achieve a great balanced taste and recreate a traditional British combination in pasta! It also has an intense burgundy color that comes across the pasta to make an amazing presentation! Try it with simple Oil and Parmigiano Reggiano.  A very simple combination that becomes a real treat! Suitable for Vegetarians.

Fresh Fish

Fresh Fish, delivered daily

Don’t forget alongside our weekly quality fruit and veg box we have an exceptional variety of fresh fish which we source daily.

This week we have fresh cod, salmon, plaice, sea bass, fresh dressed crab, scallops, naturally smoked Undyed haddock, Manx kippers, Smoked salmon.

We also have a selection of frozen seafood including raw king prawns, cooked cocktail prawns, squid tubes and a seafood cocktail mix.

Valentine’s Cheese- Les Cateliers Neufchâtel Lait Cru

We have a perfect valentines cheese, Les Cateliers Neufchâtel Lait Cru Cheese (raw milk)

This cheese is made by a tiny family owned fromagerie Les Cateliers in Buchy, in the Seine-Maritime region in Normandy.

Neufchâtel is a soft, slightly crumbly, mold-ripened cheese made in the Neufachatel-en-Bray. One of the oldest kinds of cheese in France, its production is believed to date back to the 6th century. It looks similar to Camembert, with a dry, white, edible rind, but the taste is saltier and sharper. It has the aroma and taste of mushrooms. Unlike other soft-white-rinded cheeses, Neufchâtel has a grainy texture. It is usually sold in heart shapes.

It wasn’t originally heart shaped, however, and although the heart-shaped design wasn’t invented for St. Valentine’s Day, it did come about through love…During the Hundred Years’ War (1337 – 1453), the French dairymaids of Neufchatel naturally fell for their English occupiers. Consequently they started to mould the cheese into a heart shapes to give as gifts. It is typically matured for 8–10 weeks. 

£5.50 each