“We started our first Twelve Triangles in 2015 focusing on baking sourdough bread and pastries but it’s always been the local people that have been at the heart of what we do.
This month marks the opening of our new Melrose shop in the Borders and, on this bustling local high street, we’re really excited to be part of the local community. Buying local is more
important than ever before and we can’t wait to join other independent businesses as part of this tight-knit family of retailers, highlighting the outstanding local produce on offer. These warming winter recipes are easy to follow and make use of ingredients that you can grow or buy locally.
Julie, who runs our savoury kitchen, uses the vegetables she grows in her allotment as the inspiration for her recipe development. She has a real breadth of knowledge and often uses Middle Eastern influences in her cooking, and so we arrived at these delicious dishes by playing around with flavours.
At Twelve Triangles we hate waste and focus on making the most of off-cuts and leftovers that wouldn’t otherwise be used. We specialise in cold prove sourdough that’s slowly fermented for maximum taste and nutrition. But, like so many households in the UK, even we sometimes have leftover bread. It’s actually a very versatile ingredient that we really value. We use it in our pesto in place of nuts which provides a delicious flavour, mimicking the texture. Another top tip and a crafty way to save money when making the herby green shakshuka, is to use the stalks in the recipe for cooking, saving the fresh leaves for the garnish, and making the most of the ingredient,” Emily Cuddeford of Twelve Triangles
Herby green shakshuka
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
120g selection of greens shredded (cavolo nero, spinach, Swiss chard, rainbow chard or kale)
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 packet each of dill, mint and parsley (picked from the stems but leaves left whole)
100g cooked green lentils (al dente)
4 eggs
50g feta
Sumac to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Preheat oven to 170c fan/Gas Mark 5 or preheat the grill.
2 In a small frying pan toast the spices until fragrant, add the olive oil, onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent, then season with salt and pepper. Add your shredded greens into
the pan and sauté for 3 minutes, then stir through the lentils and half of the herbs.
3 Make four little wells with the back of a spoon and crack an egg into each one. Let it cook on the hob for a few minutes until you can see the whites setting on the bottom of the pan.
Place it in the oven or under the grill until the whites are cooked and the yolk remains soft (3-5 minutes).
4 Top the eggs with the feta and remaining herbs and sprinkle generously with sumac. Serve with sesame Jerusalem breads or sourdough.
Courgette and pea soup served with sourdough pesto
Ingredients
Serves 4
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
2 courgettes finely diced
100g spring greens/kale
1/2 tin cannellini beans
600ml vegetable or chicken stock
200g peas
Salt and pepper
4 tbsp sourdough pesto (recipe below) to serve
1 Heat the olive oil and sweat down the onion and garlic in a large saucepan. Once they’re translucent, add in the courgette and continue to cook for 5 minutes, not too long, so you retain a bit of bite to the courgettes.
2 Stir through the greens and cook for another few minutes then add in the stock and cannellini beans. Bring this to a simmer for a further 5 mins, then add the peas and season with salt and pepper. Serve with a generous dollop of sourdough pesto and stir it through the soup.
Sourdough pesto
Ingredients
150g fresh basil
15g sourdough breadcrumbs
30g grated Parmesan
Juice half a lemon
1 minced clove of garlic
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1 In a blender add all your ingredients and pulse. Add enough olive oil to make a spoonable paste. This recipe can alternatively be made with a pestle and mortar.
Ribollita
Serves 6
Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
extra virgin olive oil to serve
1 large onion diced
3 cloves garlic
1 sprig rosemary
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 small squash (450g chopped)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
170g stale sourdough roughly torn into chunks
200g cooked puy lentils
50g shredded cabbage/cavolo nero
3 litres of vegetable or chicken stock
Handful of basil
70g Parmesan
Salt and pepper
1 In a large saucepan heat the olive oil, then add in the onion, garlic, rosemary, chilli, fennel, salt and pepper. Sweat this mixture down until the onions are translucent, then add in the diced
squash and chopped tomatoes to cook for a few minutes before adding in the stock.
2 Bring it to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, checking that the squash is tender before adding the lentils, sourdough and cabbage to the mix.
3 Simmer for 5 minutes then serve. Top with fresh basil, shavings of Parmesan and a splash of extra virgin olive oil.
For more information on Twelve Triangles and their Melrose branch, see www.twelvetriangles.co.uk
