Purple sprouting broccoli with cobnut crusted goat’s cheese, recipe

Cobnuts look prickly on the outside, but don’t be fooled by their appearance. These delights come with a delicate crunch, and can be eaten raw or roasted

Use the nuts to make a crust for goat’s cheese and combine it with purple sprouting broccoli for a delicious main course (Julia Platt Leonard)

I’ve successfully walked past autumnal displays of cobnuts ever since I moved to England 20 years ago. I had no clue what they were and definitely no idea what to do with them. This year I took the plunge and bought a bag.

Back home, I discovered that they may look prickly on the outside but inside they’re gems.

My cobnut queries were answered online by the Kentish Cobnuts Association – a group that spreads the word about growing, harvesting and – most happily – eating cobnuts.

​Cobnuts, I learned, are a type of hazelnut but unlike many nuts, we tend to eat them fresh. If left unpruned, their trees can grow to 7m tall so they’re typically pruned to make harvesting easier.

They don’t sound particularly difficult to grow but squirrels are mad about them and notoriously harvest the trees before humans do.

Like other nuts, cobnuts are a good source of protein and fibre and especially rich in vitamin E and calcium, with some vitamins B1 and B6 thrown in for good measure.

Cobnuts can be roasted or eaten raw. I opted for the later and used them to ‘crust’ slices of goat’s cheese. Their taste is delicate and fresh with a nice crunch. I paired them with purple sprouting broccoli and a tangy anchovy-spiked vinaigrette.

They’re ace used in baking too – Gill Meller has a lovely recipe, in his book Gather, for a Cobnut, Prune and Chocolate Tart while Mark Diacono of Otter Farm suggests storing them in vodka to create a tasty tipple.


 Crushing victory: just when you thought goat’s cheese couldn’t be improved... (Julia Platt Leonard)

Purple sprouting broccoli with cobnut crusted goat’s cheese and anchovy vinaigrette

If you don’t like anchovies or you’re a vegetarian, you can omit them from the recipe but I love the salty, taste of the sea they give this vinaigrette. Once cobnut season is over, you could substitute them for hazelnuts.

Serves 2-3

200g purple sprouting broccoli
100g shell-on cobnuts, 25g shelled
100g Goat’s cheese log, rind on
Chilli flakes, to garnish

Vinaigrette

½ clove of garlic
2 anchovy fillets in oil
1 tbsp lemon juice (about the juice of ½ lemon)
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp mustard

Crack the cobnuts, place them on a board and chop them. Take a thin slice off each end of the goat’s cheese to remove the end rind. Slice the wheel into 4 equal rounds. Place the nuts on a small plate and press each round firmly into the chopped nuts. Turn and repeat on the other side. Place the nut-coated rounds into the refrigerator until ready to cook.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. While the water is heating up, make the vinaigrette. Rub half a garlic clove on the bottom and sides of a small bowl or in the bowl of a mortar and pestle. Discard the clove. Place the anchovy fillets and either using the pestle or the back of a spoon, smash the fillets until they’re a paste. Don’t worry if there are some lumps. Stir in the lemon juice and mustard and then whisk in the olive oil until you have a smooth emulsion.

When the water is boiling, salt it generously and add the purple sprouting broccoli. Cook only for a minute or two until it’s just cooked but still has a bite. Drain in a colander.

Heat up a frying pan over medium high heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil and cook the goat’s cheese rounds on each side until the cheese softens. Remove from the heat. Toss the broccoli with some of the dressing, place it on a plate and top with the four goat’s cheese rounds and any bits of loose nut. Dot with some chilli flakes and a bit more of the dressing. Serve warm.

@juliapleonard