What happens when your kitchen garden is bursting with produce and no one is there to eat it?

That was the situation gardener Alice Crowe faced when the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020-21 forced Melbourne’s Heide Museum of Modern Art to close its onsite restaurant, Heide Kitchen, yet the organic kitchen gardens that supplied the restaurant continued to flourish.

The museum began sharing the produce with community groups and staff. But it planted the seed for a new project: A Heide Harvest. The hard-cover book, lushly photographed by Robyn Lea, is equal parts seasonal cookbook, garden almanac and chronicle of Heide’s long history of championing the arts, artists and nature.

Twelve Victorian cooks passionate about garden-to-plate dining have created themed set menus inspired by the museum and its extensive gardens. Among the contributors are Annie Smithers of hatted restaurant Du Fermier in Trentham, former Heide Kitchen head chef Scott Eddington (now owner-chef at Arnold’s in Kensington), and Dom Gattermayr and Rose Richards of Florian cafe in Carlton North.

These recipes, by Gattermayr and Richards, from the menu entitled Sumptuous Picnic Fare, are ideal for an outdoor gathering in the style of those regularly enjoyed in Heide’s gardens.

Picnic pie

Nothing says picnic quite like a pie, and this one adds a healthy amount of vegetables to your spread. Plus, you can serve it warm, at room temperature or even chilled. The unusual pastry is surprisingly sturdy, yet moist and clean to cut, making it ideal to transport in a picnic hamper. The filling uses cheddar, but parmesan, pecorino or any other hard cheese or vegan cheese will work (you can also leave it out completely, if you like). If using nettles, use gloves to handle them until cooked. Cooking the nettles will remove their sting.

INGREDIENTS

Pastry

• 400g plain flour
• 100ml olive oil
• 100ml white wine
• pinch of table salt
• 1 egg
• sea salt

Pie filling

• 500g kipfler potatoes, peeled
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 leek, roughly chopped
• 1 shallot, roughly chopped
• 1 bunch small spring onions, roughly chopped
• 2 bunches greens (spinach, warrigal greens, nettles), washed but not dried, chopped if necessary
• 150g ricotta
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 200g cheddar, coarsely grated
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground black or white pepper
• 1 bunch parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped

METHOD

1. To make the pastry, combine the flour, olive oil, wine and salt in a large bowl and knead until the dough forms a smooth ball. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
2. While the dough is resting, make the pie filling. Add the potatoes to a large saucepan and cover with slightly salted water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 to15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Strain, and let the potatoes cool slightly before cutting into small rounds.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the leek, shallot and spring onion and cook for a few minutes or until translucent. Add the greens and cook briefly. Depending on how sturdy the greens are, the cooking time will vary: for spinach, warrigal greens or nettles this should only take 2 minutes. The residual water from the leaves should be enough to stop them drying out in the pan, but if not, just add a little more.
4. Preheat the oven to 190C fan-forced (210C conventional).
5. In a large bowl, mix the ricotta, egg, cheese, salt and pepper. Squeeze any excess water from the greens and break apart before adding to the ricotta mix. Add the leek mixture, parsley and sliced potato and mix well, evenly dispersing all the vegetables.
6. You’ll need two-thirds of the dough to form the base of the pie, reserving the remaining one-third for the lid. Roll out the dough for the base to a 40-50cm round, around 2-3mm thick (the pastry is sturdy, so it can be rolled quite thinly). Line the base of a shallow 30cm round baking tin or pie dish with pastry, leaving a little overhang. Spread the filling evenly over the base.
7. Roll the remaining pastry into a round shape for the lid. Place on top of the filling and pinch to seal the edges with the overhanging pastry from the base. Pierce the lid every few centimetres with a fork or the tip of a sharp knife. Beat the egg, then brush the lid and visible sides with egg wash. Sprinkle some sea salt on top and bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
8. Serve with dressed leaves and green tomato chutney (see recipe).

Serves 6

Green tomato chutney

A good chutney should be a staple in anyone’s pantry, as it makes any simple meal exciting. For picnics, it’s essential. This one can only be made when green tomatoes are around at the end of summer, so make a lot and store it for use throughout the year.

INGREDIENTS

• 2.5kg green tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1.5kg brown onions, chopped
• white or apple cider vinegar, to cover
• 1 kg caster sugar
• pinch of paprika
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tbsp ground allspice
• 1 tbsp white pepper
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp ground turmeric
• sea salt and freshly ground
• black pepper

METHOD

1. Place the tomato and onion in a deep saucepan and add enough vinegar to just cover. Add the sugar and spices and simmer for 1 hour or until reduced.
2. Season to taste and transfer to sterilised jars (see note) while the mixture is still hot. Seal the jars and store in a cool, dark place such as a pantry for up to 6 months.

Makes 7-10 jars

Note: To sterilise glass jars, preheat the oven to 120C fan-forced (140C conventional). Wash the jars and the (metal) lids in hot soapy water, rinse and place on a baking tray. Place in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and allow to cool before filling.

Cucumbers dressed with dill, tarragon and buttermilk

This light summer salad is satisfyingly quick to make and is easily prepared for as many or as few people as required. Heirloom cucumber varieties, which are smaller than many store-bought varieties, work particularly well here as they add unique flavour profiles.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 250ml (1 cup) buttermilk
• 220g (1 cup) sour cream or Greek-style yoghurt
• 1 bunch tarragon (about 40g), finely chopped, plus extra to serve
• 1 bunch dill (about 50g), finely chopped
• grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 Lebanese cucumbers (or an equivalent weight of heritage or home-grown cucumbers

METHOD

Place the shallot, buttermilk, sour cream, tarragon, dill, lemon zest and juice in a bowl and whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Peel the cucumber skins in strips, then finely slice into rounds. Dress with the buttermilk dressing and season with pepper.

Serves 4-6 as a side dish

VARIATIONS

You can top this dish with a little trout roe, or for a vegetarian option, fry some capers in vegetable oil until they burst open and release their flavour. Drain on paper towel.

Add the dressing to chunks of cos lettuce, topped with chives, to accompany a summer barbecue, or serve it as a light dip for crudites.

This is an edited extract from A Heide Harvest by Alice Crowe and Maximilian. Photography by Robyn Lea. Published by Thames & Hudson Australia, RRP $64.99.