Recipes from Katherine Rundell's Books

We are thrilled to share a guest blog from the Bloomsbury Team about the feast of food featured in Katherine Rundell’s stories. Read on and then head to the shop to gather your ingredients for a yummy feast.

In many of Katherine Rundell’s books, you can find unique and delicious recipes to test out. From tomato soup to an “everything sweet sandwich”, Katherine’s characters have tried it all. Her food is often described as being warm and homely, providing comfort to her characters who need it. You may need a grown-up to help you with some of the recipes below, so be sure to ask for help. As a tip for reading the below recipes, “tbsp” stands for tablespoon, and “tsp” stands for teaspoon!

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From Rooftoppers, you can find a particularly interesting tomato soup recipe, in which we follow Matteo and Sophie’s direct method…

“‘And I could make tomato soup,’ she said. ‘Do you know how to make tomato soup?’ said Matteo. ‘Yes,’ lied Sophie. ‘At least, I’m sure I could work it out.’”

Rooftoppers Tomato Soup

You will need:

· 450g fresh ripe (Non-peeled!) tomatoes

· 3 tbsp olive oil

· 1 large onion, chopped

· 2 garlic cloves, crushed

· ½ tsps sugar

· salt and freshly ground pepper

· 200ml passata

· 500ml vegetable stock

· 100ml single cream

Method:

1. Matteo and Sophie had to use rainwater for their soup, but you can use olive oil. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion for 5-6 minutes over a gentle heat until almost soft, but not brown.

2. Add the garlic and cook for another 6-7 minutes, keep stirring to make sure it doesn’t stick to the base of the pan.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes and sugar. Now you can add in a pinch of salt, and pepper if you like it (Sophie doesn’t, Matteo does!)

4. Then stir in the passata and vegetable stock. Have a grown-up turn the temperature down to simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 35-40 minutes, until all the tomatoes are soft and squishy.

5. Next you need to blend the soup in a liquidizer or food processor. You will need a grown-up to help you with this part. Pour the soup into a clean saucepan, passing it through a sieve if you want it really smooth. Stir in the cream.

6. Pour into large mugs or bowls, wait for it to cool down and ENJOY!

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In Impossible Creatures, Christopher is given a meal of walnut bread with a bowl of crushed apricots stewed with honey. You can buy walnut bread in some bakeries, but if you would like to try and bake something similar, here’s a recipe for walnut banana bread…

“The sun rose on Christopher’s still-waking waiting. A dryad brought him bread made from walnuts, and a bowl of crushed apricots stewed with honey. ‘It is dryad fruit. It will do more for you than any other food.”

Impossible Creatures Walnut Bread

You will need:

· 100g softened butter, keep a little extra for greasing

· 140g caster sugar

· 1 beaten egg

· 225g plain flour

· 2tsp baking powder

· 4 VERY ripe bananas

· 85g chopped up walnuts

· 50ml milk

Method:

1. Start by having a grown-up heat the oven up to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

2. Grease your loaf tin with some butter, and line the base with baking parchment, then grease this as well.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the butter, sugar and egg, then slowly add the flour and baking powder. Next, peel and mash up the bananas. Now mix EVERYTHING together, including the walnuts!

4. Pour your mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour. Let the loaf cool before removing the loaf from the tin.

5. Serve with apricots if you want to try it like Christopher!

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Now onto the desserts…

In The Good Thieves, Silk makes a sandwich full of EVERYTHING sweet, which we have fondly nicknamed “The Everything Sweet Sandwich.” If you have a sweet tooth, this one’s for you to try!

“Ten minutes later, all four children were sitting on Vita’s bed, and Silk was eating a sandwich made of everything sweet Vita could find – butter, peanut butter, honey, chocolate shavings, and a sliced banana. Vita had suggested adding ketchup, but Silk had refused.”

The Good Thieves Everything Sweet Sandwich

You will need:

· Bread – white or brown, whichever you prefer!

· Butter

· Peanut butter

· Honey

· Chocolate

· 1 Banana

Method:

1. Start by buttering your bread of choice. Next, layer on some smeared peanut butter over the top.

2. Get your banana and cut it up into little slices (you may need a grown-up to help with this), then layer the banana pieces on top of one slice of bread.

3. Ask a grown-up to help you shave some chocolate pieces, then put those on top of the banana pieces.

4. Lastly, drizzle over some honey and put your sandwich together.

5. Enjoy!

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Last but not least, we have one last sweet treat for you try and whip up! In The Explorer, Fred, Con, Lila and Max come up with an idea to make chocolate pancakes whilst in a rather rubbish situation. They don’t turn out quite as they wanted, so we’ve made some changes to their recipe to make sure they are yummy for you!

“‘What if we fry them?’ said Fred. ‘And make them into a pancake?’ ‘Fry on what? We don’t have a pan,’ said Con. ‘But we’ve got stones,’ said Lila. She scrubbed her face with her top and tried to sound bright. ‘We could make chocolate pancakes. Sort of.’ ‘Sort of,’ said Con. ‘Really quite amazingly sort of.’”

The Explorer Chocolate Pancakes

You will need:

· 225g self-raising flour

· 50g cocoa powder

· 1 tsp baking powder

· 1 tbsp caster sugar

· 2 large eggs

· 400ml whole milk

· 100g dark chocolate chips

· 1tbsp vegetable oil

· 50g unsalted butter

Method:

1. Tip the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and sugar into a large bowl with a little pinch of salt.

2. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Top tip – use a fork to stir really quickly!

3. Slowly add the milk until it is all smooth, and then mix in the chocolate chips.

4. Have a grown-up heat a splash of oil and a bit of butter in a frying pan until it sizzles.

5. Cook the pancakes, using 2tbsp of batter for each one, for 2 minutes until little bubbles start to appear.

6. A grown-up will need to help you flip the pancake, then cook it for 2 more minutes.

7. To serve, you can add whipped cream for an extra treat!

8. Enjoy!

This blog post and recipes were written by the Bloomsbury Children’s Team