3 Cozy Sheet Pan Baking Recipes from Laura Jackson of Towpath

Fifteen years since it opened on the Regent’s Canal site, Towpath is as embedded in the Hackney landscape as Columbia Road and Bethnal Green Gasholders, Broadway Market and London Fields Lido. The likes of Keira Knightley and Peter Doig are among the Londoners who flock to the café’s quayside stalls when it opens every March, its wooden tables laden with jars of daffodil jam and its chalkboard menu filled with dishes made from poached rhubarb and wild garlic.

Many members of the Towpath community, as founders Laurie De Morey and Laura Jackson like to call their regulars, are also making a second special pilgrimage before it closes for the winter on Bonfire Night. His farewell parties have been known to include copious amounts of natural wine and a chorus of laments about having to wait until spring to order wine. coffee sospesi from Laurie, or re-eat Laura’s scrambled eggs with caramelized sage and chili oil.

Along with De Maury, Jackson tried to learn from the woes of the four-month season shutdown by releasing a cookbook. The Trail: Recipes and Stories in 2020. And in 2024? Since early November, she’s been offering “Tray Days”: designated dates when the Towpath community can order and assemble enamel trays of cozy, warming dishes for the second year in a row.

“Lori and I are really against takeout because it involves all disposable packaging,” explains Laura, “so this is an alternative to Towpath where customers pay a small deposit for our trays, which they get back when they return them (or they pay a small deposit for our trays). You can always bring your own). Orders are placed on Mondays and ready for collection on Thursdays throughout the season, and all meals have a shelf life of at least four days – just pop them in the oven when ready to eat – or you can freeze them too. Certainly.”

In honor of the return of Tray Days on November 7th, she’s sharing three of her favorite fall recipes below and a link to register for this year’s Tray Days here.

Fennel and Berkswell Gratin

Serves 6-8

I like to use things and not waste them. This is the perfect dish for this. Berkswell is a raw sheep’s milk cheese that has the same taste as Parmesan and a similar texture to Manchego. I often have Berkswell on my menu, so I end up with a lot of leftovers. Melting them in a casserole is the perfect solution. You can prepare this ahead of time and leave it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook. It’s quite durable and easy to reheat – great to serve the next day and will last for 2-3 days.

Ingredients

• 200g/7oz unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 onions, chopped
• 8 heads fennel, thinly sliced ​​or mandolined
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 75 ml/3 fl oz white wine
• 75 ml/3 fl oz full fat milk
• 75 ml/3 fl oz double cream
• 250g grated Berkswell cheese
• 1/2 lemon, squeezed juice
• Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 210°C fan/450°F/gas mark 8. Melt the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened but not coloured, about ten minutes. Add fennel, garlic, bay leaf and thyme. Cook over low heat for 5-10 minutes until the fennel begins to soften, but do not soften too much as the casserole will cook again in the oven. It’s just a great way to start the cooking process and introduce all the different flavors to each other.