Strawberry, clotted cream and watercress salad

Portion size: Serves 4
Hands-on time 15 min, plus cooling
Difficulty: medium

Gluten-free

Vegetarian

Recipe by: Claire Thompson

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Where do you stand on strawberries in savoury dishes? We are all for the combination of sweet and savoury, and here, Claire Thompson (food writer and chef) has pulled a blinder inspired by the classic British combo of strawberries and cream…

“I wanted to use these two quintessentially British ingredients to create a show-stopping commemorative dish, one to make your mouth water and your eyes pop. Sweet, sharp and fruity with the strawberries and vinegar, there’s a good buzz from the pink peppercorns and watercress while the shallots, both sweet and sharp, unite the lot along with the hazelnuts. As for the clotted cream, I’ve used it much like a burrata, as they do in Italy, or even mascarpone. A surprising addition perhaps, but a uniquely delicious one. Strawberries and cream – just a little differently.”

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Ingredients

50g caster sugar
75g skinned whole hazelnuts, very roughly crushed
1 tsp roughly crushed pink peppercorns
3 tbsp hazelnut or light olive oil, plus extra to brush
2 small shallots, very finely sliced
2 tbsp raspberry vinegar or red wine vinegar
600g ripe strawberries
100g watercress
120g clotted cream

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Method

First make the hazelnut brittle; put the sugar and 25ml cold water in a small pan over a medium-high heat to caramelise. Do not touch the contents of the pan with a spoon, give it a quick swirl to distribute midway through if needed. Cook for around 5 minutes until the sugar is molten and a uniform nut brown. Meanwhile brush a tray with oil.
Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add the hazelnuts, a big pinch of sea salt flakes and the pink peppercorns. Stir quickly and tip out onto the prpeared tray, then leave to cool.
In a small bowl, soak the shallots in the vinegar for at least 5 minutes. Hull and chop the strawberries and arrange with the watercress on a large serving platter.
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Add the oil to the shallots and vinegar and season well with a big pinch of salt. Dress the watercress and strawberries with the shallot dressing. Chop or crush the cooled hazelnut brittle to a coarse dust (some bigger chunks of brittle is good). Add small dollops of clotted cream to the top of the salad and scatter over the brittle dust and fragments to serve.